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H 


\m 


•t-  .••«*' 


SOLI)   MY 

THOMAS  HAKKR 
72  Xcwman  Street. 


THE 


FAITH   OF   CATHOLICS 


CONFIRMED  BY  SCRIPTURE 

AND  ATTESTED  BY  THE  FATHERS  OF  THE  FIRST  FIVE 
CENTURIES  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


COMPILED    BY 

REVDS.  J.  BERINGTON  AND  J.  KIRK. 

REVISED  AND    RECAST    BY 

REVD.  J.  WATERWORTH. 


TMlftb  {preface,  Corrections,  and  Booittona 


RT.  REV.  MONSIGNOR  CAPEIy,  D.  D., 

Domestic  Prelate  of  His  Holiness  Leo  XIII.. 
Member  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Segnatura. 


VOL-  I. 


THIRD  ENLARGED,  EDITION. 


FR.  PUSTET  &  CO., 

Printers  to  the  Holy  Apostolic  See  and  the  Sacred 
Congregation  of  Rites. 

RATISBON  ROME 

NEW   YORK   AND   CINCINNATI 

1909. 


JUN  1 5  1933 

S  $  So 


Copyright,  1884,  by 

K.    STEIN  BACK, 

Of  the  firm  of  FR.  PUSTET  &  Co. 


TO  THE 

PEOPLE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

GIFTED  WITH  QUICK  INTELLIGENCE,  ARDENT  LOVERS  OP  KNOWLEDGE, 
IS   THIS    WORK   OFFERED — 

A   TRIBUTE 

OF  AFFECTIONATE  GRATITUDE  FOR  GENEROUS 
HOSPITALITY  RECEIVED; 

A  TOKEN 

OF  ADMIRATION  FOR  THE  SELF-RESPECT,   THE  LOVE  OF  LIBERTY, 

THE  FREEDOM  FROM  PREJUDICE, 
CHARACTERISTIC  OF  THEIR  YOUTHFUL  NATION, 

BY 
THEIR  DEVOTED  SERVANT, 

T.  J.  CAPEL. 


CONTENTS  OF  VOLUME  L 


PAGI 

THE  RULE  OF  FAITH, 1 

JUSTIFICATION  THROUGH  CHRIST,  AND  THE  MERIT  OF  GOOD  WORKS,   .  2 

FAITH  IN  CHRIST  :  ITS  OBJECT  AND  CHARACTER,          ....  7 

DIVINE  REVELATION, 8 

TUB  AUTHORITY  AND  MARKS  OF  THE  CHURCH,     .....  9 

The  Authority  of  the  Church, 9 

Unity  of  the  Church, 119 

Visibility  of  the  Church, 188 

The  Church  oannot  fail, .199 

Succession  from  the  Apostles,        .......  245 

The  Church  Catholic,  or  Universal, 282 

Sanctity  of  the  Church, 302 

THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH,    ........  308 

THE  SCRIPTURES, 323 

THE  CHURCH  is  THE  EXPOUNDER  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES,        .        .        .  334 

Private  Judgment, 351 

APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS, 387 

THE  OFFICE  OF  COUNCILS, 450 

EXTENT  OF  THE  INERRANCY  OF  THE  CHURCH, 468 


PREFACE. 


To  justify  the  so-called  Reformation,  to  oppose  a  return 
to  the  Old  Church,  "  the  Mother  and  Mistress  of  Churches," 
it  is  persistently  asserted  that  Rome  has  added  to  the 
"Faith  once  delivered  to  the  Saints,"  that  she  has  imposed 
on  the  One  Fold  practices  and  doctrines  which  are  no  part 
of  the  Gospel  of  the  Shepherd  of  our  souls.  It  is  trium 
phantly  pointed  out  that  as  late  as  1854  and  1870  the  dogma 
of  the  Immaculate  Conception  and  of  the  Infallibility  of 
the  Pope  have  been  added  to  the  Creed  of  the  Roman 
Church. 

Catholics  meet  this  grave  charge  by  saying  that  all  Re 
velation  was  completed  and  closed  by  Jesus  Christ,  who 
committed  it  as  the  depositum  fidei  to  the  Divine-Human 
Organism,  the  Church  appointed  and  authorized  to  be  the 
sole  Teacher,  Guardian,  and  Judge  of  this  Revelation.  To 
fulfil  her  mission  the  "  assistance "  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  but 
not  "inspiration"  is  given  her.  Consequently  she  has  no 
power  to  add  to  the  truths  of  Revelation. 

The  decisions  made  in  the  first  Council  held  at  Jerusa 
lem  by  the  Apostles1  to  those  of  the  last  convened  by  the 
Chief  Pastor  of  the  Old  Church  at  the  Vatican  in  1869 
are  not  additions  to  Revelation,  but  explicit  declarations  of 
what  is  contained  in  Revelation.  The  consubstantiality  of 
the  Father  and  Son,  the  Trinity  in  Unity,  the  one  Per- 

1  Acts  xv.  6-26. 
iii 


IV  PREFACE. 

son  and  the  two  Natures  in  Jesus  Christ,  the  question  of 
Grace  and  Free-will,  all  defined  and  decreed  by  the  General 
Councils  held  successively  in  the  first  five  centuries,  add 
naught  to  the  substance  of  the  Faith.  The  Book  of  Re 
velation  was  not  increased  because  certain  pages  within  it 
'-were  more  accurately  examined  and  their  contents  more 
scientifically  formulated.  These  truths,  in  the  language  of 
St.  Vincent  of  Lerins,1  received  "  evidence,  light,  discrimi 
nation,"  and  yet  preserved  "their  fulness,  their  integrity, 
their  peculiarity." 

In  like  manner  the  doctrines  of  the  Immaculate  Concep 
tion  and  the  Infallibility  of  the  Pope  are  respectively  legi 
timate  logical  consequences  of  the  Holiness  of  the  Second 
Adam,  and  of  the  Supreme  Teaching  office  expressed  in 
the  words  * :  "  Simon,  Simon,  behold  Satan  hath  desired  to 
have  you  "  (the  assembled  Apostolic  College)  "  that  he  may 
sift  you  as  wheat ;  but  I  have  prayed  for  thee "  (Simon) 
"that  thy  faith  fail  not:  and  thou  being  once  converted, 
confirm  thy  brethren." 

The  Catholic  Faith  is  no  mere  aggregation  of  theological 
decisions,  but  an  organic  body  of  truths,  explaining,  con 
firming,  and  perfecting  one  another.  Times  and  circum 
stances  may  concentrate  the  mind  of  the  Church  on  one 
of  these  truths  rather  than  on  another,  and  thus  give  it 
universal  prominence.  Or  controversy  and  heresy  may 
necessitate  clear,  definite,  formulated  decisions  of  the 
Faith.  At  another  time  the  very  devotions  of  the  faith 
ful  will  evolve  precise  statements  of  doctrine.  But  in  all 

1  Commonit.  c.  23.  s  St.  Luke  xxii.  31-8. 


PREFACE.  v 

this  the  explicit  declarations  are  but  the  unfolding  of  the 
implicit  propositions  of  Revelation. 

This  "  Development  of  Doctrine,"  or,  as  it  is  technically 
called  in  theology,  "  Explication  of  Christian  Doctrine," 
must  from  the  nature  of  the  case  ever  be  going  on.  It 
permits  us  to  say,  with  St.  Yincent  of  Lerins  :  "  We  hold 
that  which  has  been  believed  everywhere,  always,  and  by 
all;  for  this  is  what  is  truly  and  properly  Catholic.  And 
this  we  shall  do,  if  we  follow  universality,  antiquity,  and 
consent"  And,  on  the  other  hand,  with  the  same  saint  ask 
and  reply :  "  Nullusne  ergo  in  Ecclesia  Christi  profectus 
habebitur  religionis  ?  Habeatur  plane  et  maximus.  Nam 
quis  ille  est  tarn  invidus  hominibus,  tarn  exosus  Deo,  qui 
istud  prohibere  conetur  ?  Sed  ita  tamen,  ut  vere  profectus 
sit  ille  fidei,  non  perrnutatio.  Siquidem  ad  profectum  per- 
tinet,  ut  in  semetipsam  unaquseque  res  amplificetur,  ad  per- 
mutationem  vero,  ut  aliquid  ex  alio  in  aliud  transvertatur. 
Crescat  igitur  oportet  et  multum  vehementerque  proiiciat 
tain  singulorum,  quam  omnium,  tarn  unius  hominis  quam 
totius  Ecclesiae,  setatum  ac  sseculorurn  gradibus,  intelligent, 
scientia,  sapientia,  sed  in  suo  dumtaxat  genere,  in  eodem 
scilicet  dogmate,  eodem  sensu  eadernque  sententia." 

This  would  be  the  common-sense  reply  to  the  objection 
that  Rome  has  added  to  the  Faith.  To  many  it  would 
be  sufficient ;  to  others  it  would  be  more  satisfactory  to 
see  the  expressions  of  the  Teachers  of  the  early  Christian 
ages  concerning  the  present  formulated  Catholic  doctrines. 

The  task- of  compiling  such  a  body  of  evidence  was  un- 

1  Commonit.  c.  28. 


vi  PREFACE. 

dertaken  by  the  Rev.  Fathers  Berington  and  Kirk  in  the 
early  part  of  this  century.  The  book  found  such  favor 
that  the  Rev.  Father  Waterworth  undertook  to  republish 
it  some  years  after  it  was  out  of  print.  For  "  the  due 
execution  of  his  task,  it  was  thought  necessary  to  read 
the  entire  works  of  the  Fathers  and  ecclesiastical  writers 
of  the  first  five  centuries  ;  to  give  an  entirely  new  trans 
lation  of  nearly  all  the  extracts — especially  those  from  the 
Greek  writers;  and  to  use  such  aids  as  numerous  authors 
have  furnished  towards  distinguishing  the  genuine  from 
the  spurious  or  doubtful  works  of  those  early  ages  of  the 
Church.  To  that  labor  four  years  of  severe  study  and 
reading  have  been  devoted. 

"The  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  times  have  had 
their  influence  in  determining  the  Editor  to  enlarge  the 
work  very  considerably ;  and  to  present  a  digest  of  the 
evidence  of  the  five  first  centuries,  rather  than  a  mere 
selection  of  passages  from  the  writings  of  that  period.  It 
will,  in  fact,  it  is  expected,  be  found  that  almost  every 
important  passage  that  touches  on  the  present  controver 
sies,  has  been  either  actually  cited  or  is  referred  to  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  be  easily  traced  in  the  originals. 
Some  passages  may,  and  have,  no  doubt,  escaped  the 
Editor's  attention;  others  he  may  not  have  deemed  neces 
sary,  and  have  omitted  them  under  the  impression  that 
they  were  not  so  clear  and  forcible,  or  conveyed  but  the 
same  meaning,  as  the  extracts  given  from  other  parts  of 
the  same  writer's  works ;  or,  finally,  their  genuineness 
may  not  have  seemed  to  him  sufficiently  established  ;  but, 


PREFACE.  VU 

throughout,  his  object  has  been  to  present  a  faithful  view 
of  each  Father's  sentiments  and  testimony,  as  far  as  they 
could  be  gathered  from  what  remains  of  his  writings. 

"  With  this  view,  the  words  of  each  author  have  been 
translated  as  literally  as  possible ;  sacrificing  in  this  way 
all  attempts  at  elegance  of  style,  to  secure  fidelity.  If, 
then,  to  the  English  reader,  many  of  the  extracts  may 
seem  harsh,  and  perhaps  obscure,  it  ought  not  to  be  for 
gotten  that  such  is  the  style  of  several  of  the  Fathers,  as 
a  very  slight  acquaintance  with  the  writings  of  Clement 
of  Alexandria,  St.  Cyril  of  Alexandria,  and  of  others  will 
serve  to  prove.  Any  just  representation,  therefore,  of 
their  works  cannot  but  labor  under  the  same  defects.  How 
ever,  a  second  reading  will,  it  is  believed,  generally  render 
their  meaning  clear." 

It  is  this  edition  of  Father  Waterworth  which  is  now 
given  to  the  public  with  sundry  corrections.  There  has 
been  added  to  it  a  chapter  from  the  work  of  the  learned 
and  venerated  Bishop  Ullathorne  on  the  Immaculate  Con 
ception,  a  translation  of  the  First  Dogmatic  Constitution 
-of  the  General  Council  of  the  Vatican,  and  a  chronological 
list  of  the  Popes  of  the  first  five  centuries. 

"  There  is,"'  says  Father  Waterworth,  "  an  inconvenience 
in  the  manner  of  distributing  the  various  sections,  especially 
on  the  Church,  which  cannot  fail  to  be  perceived  by  the 
attentive  reader.  Many  of  those  sections  are  on  subjects 
so  closely  connected  that  it  is  difficult,  at  times,  to  decide 
under  which  section  a  particular  extract  ought  to  be  class- 
<ed,:  and  in  some  instances  the  editor  has,  probably,  placed 


viii  PREFACE. 

under  a  given  head  passages  which  some  readers  may  think 
belong  more  directly  to  another.  There  is  an  easy  method 
of  overcoming  this  difficulty,  and  one  which  it  would,  per 
haps,  be  well  to  follow  throughout  in  reading  the  work; 
to  read,  that  is,  consecutively  the  whole  evidence  adduced 
from  each  writer  on  any  given  subject,  whether  that  sub 
ject  be  the  Church,  its  government,  or  one  of  the  sacra 
ments  treated  of  under  distinct  sections." 

In  reading  these  monuments  of  Christian  antiquity,  it 
should  ever  be  remembered  they  were  addressed  to  those 
who  were  already  possessors  of  the  Faith  in  a  living  Tra 
dition,  and  to  whom,  therefore,  at  a  time  when  the  disci- 
plina  arcana  obtained,  words  would  have  a  more  compre 
hensive  signification.  And  it  has  likewise  to  be  borne  in 
mind  the  Church  in  ;ts  infancy  was  small.  Of  her  chil 
dren  "  not  many  were  wise  according  to  the  flesh,  not 
many  mighty,  not  many  noble."  Her  writers  were  few, 
and  of  their  works  several  are  not  extant. 

Still,  of  what  remain,  as  this  valuable  compilation  shows, 
there  is  abundant  to  prove  that  the  explicit  declarations 
made  by  Holy  Church  in  successive  centuries  are  no 
change  of  the  essence  of  faith,  but  the  gradual  and  steady 
unfolding  of  the  tree  with  its  branches,  and  leaves,  and 
flowers,  and  fruit  from  the  seed,  Revelation  with  its 
rich  store  of  dogma,  given  by  Christ  to  "  His  Church, 

the  Pillar   and  Ground   of   Truth." 

T.   J.    CAPEL. 

NEW  YORK,  FEAST  or  THE  HOLY  ROSARY,  October,  1884. 
1  1  Cor  i.  26. 


INTRODUCTION. 

[FBOM  THB  FERST  EDITION.] 


FOR  my  own  use,  and  for  the  use  of  others,  I  have  often 
wished  for  such  a  compilation  as  I  now  offer  to  my  brethren 
of  the  Catholic  communion.     Our  ministers,  in  their  public 
instructions  to  the  people,   fail  not  to  inculcate   that   their 
Church  never  framed,  nor  frames,  any  new  article  of  belief ; 
but  simply  stated,  and  states,  the  doctrine  which  she  received; 
which  doctrine,  they  add,  coming  down  to  them  through  an 
-uninterrupted  series  of    tradition,   is    the   same   that  Christ 
taught,  and  the  Apostles,  instructed  by  Him,  delivered.     The 
reflecting  man,  who  hears  this,  says  within  himself  :  "  I  most 
.readily  subscribe  to  this  position,  because  there  can  be  no 
point,  which  I  am  bound  to  receive  as  a  divine  truth,  that 
Jesus  Christ,  the  founder  of  the  Christian  law,  did  not  teach  ; 
and  I  am  sensible,  that  if  there  be  not  a  speaking  authority 
that  can  tell  me,  without  danger  of   being  itself  deceived, 
-what  the  truths  are  which  Christ  taught,  my  mind  can  rest 
only  on  its  own  unstable  judgment,  that  is,  it  must  be  tossed 
to  cmd  fro,  and  carried  about  with  every  wind  of  doctrine. 
In  the  Church  of  which  I  am  a  member,  I  behold  this  speak 
ing  authority  established  on  the  promises  of  Christ,  and  to  it 
I  submit ;  but  it  would  be  satisfactory  to  me,  to  trace,  by  my 
'.own  inspection,  that  body  of  divine  truths,  in  all  their  articles, 
which,  from  hand  to  hand,  has  been  brought  down,  and  which, 
doubtless,  may  be  found  in  the  volumes  of  those  men,  who, 
through  the  progress  of  ages,  have  illustrated  the  Church  by 


X  INTRODUCTION. 

their  virtues,  and  in  their  writings  attested  the  doctrines 
which  they  had  received." 

The  minister  of  religion,  if  he  heard  this  reasoning,  could 
not  for  a  moment  hesitate.  He  would  assure  him,  that  the 
question  stood  precisely  as  he  viewed  it ;  and  for  the  satisfac 
tion  which  he  wished,  he  would  refer  him  to  many  books  writ 
ten  on  the  subject,  and  particularly  to  the  works  of  those  vene 
rable  men  to  whom  he  had  alluded,  the  Fathers  of  the  Church; 
acknowledged  to  have  been  the  faithful  witnesses  of  the  doc 
trines  which  they  had  received,  and  themselves  delivered. 
But  the  works  of  these  Fathers  were  chiefly  written  in  Greek 
or  Latin,  the  languages  of  the  countries  in  which  they  lived  ; 
languages  not  accessible  to  all  readers  ;  and  of  those  works  few 
have  been  translated. 

Certainly  many  excellent  tracts,  in  this  country  and  in 
others,  have  been  compiled,  replete  with  extracts  from  the 
Scriptures  and  Fathers,  to  prove  that  all  the  points  of  Catho 
lic  belief  were  at  all  times  taught  as  they  now  are :  but  few 
of  these  tracts,  with  us,  are  at  this  time  in  circulation ;  and 
those  that  are,  come  not  up  to  the  notion  which  I  have  formed 
of  the  proper  character  of  such  writings.  I  would  have  them 
state — without  any  comment,  and,  as  far  as  may  be,  without 
any  direct  allusion  to  the  opinions  of  others — the  plain  texts 
of  Scripture,  and  the  analogous  or  corresponding  expressions 
of  the  Father,  that  the  reader — free  from  prepossession  and  the 
bias  of  argument — may  form  his  own  judgment.  It  would 
be  rash  to  say  that  controversy  has  done  no  good  ;  but  the 
good  which  it  could  do,  I  believe  it  has  done  ;  and  if  so,  meth 
ods  of  another  order  may  become  expedient.  But,  in  truth, 
my  motive  is  to  be  serviceable  to  the  professors  of  my  own 
religion.  I  will  now  say  in  what  way  I  have  proceeded. 

First :  I  state,  in  distinct  Propositions,  the  articles  of  be 
lief,  as  briefly,  but  as  comprehensively,  as  may  be  ;  and  these 
Propositions  I  generally  take  from  a  small  tract,  entitled  Ro 
man  Catholic  Principles,  published  anonymously  towards  the 
close  of  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  This  I  did,  because  those 


INTRODUCTION. 


XI 


Principles,  a  few  clauses  excepted,  are  drawn  up  with  great 
precision ;  and  because,  in  stating  points  of  religious  belief,  I 
feel  a  predilection  for  whatever  bears  the  stamp  of  age.  An 
tiquity  is  the  badge  of  our  faith.  In  any  other  view,  as  the 
Catholic  creed,  in  all  its  articles,  is  clearly  defined,  and  is  as 
unchangeable  as  it  has  been  unchanged,  it  mattered  not  whence 
the  Propositions  were  taken.  Still,  I  am  aware— as  all  human 
language,  not  sanctioned  by  the  highest  authority,  is  open  to 
misconception,  and  the  expression  of  the  point  of  belief  must, 
from  its  character,  be  concise,  and  in  some  measure  condensed 
—I  am  aware,  the  scholastic  reader  may  sometimes  pause,  ac 
customed  as  he  has  been  to  scrupulous  precision,  and  to  weigh 
the  utmost  value  of  words.  Should  this  happen,  let  me  re 
quest  him  not  to  pronounce  on  single  Propositions,  but  to  con 
nect  one  with  another  :  to  explain  what  may  seem  dubious  by 
what  is  more  clear ;  and  to  permit  the  subsequent  words  of 
Scripture,  the  quotations  from  the  Fathers,  and — where  they 
could  be  introduced— the  decisions  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  to 
develop  and  illustrate  each  Proposition. 

Secondly  :  The  Proposition  is  followed  by  such  passages 
from  the  Scriptures  as  seem  to  support  it  with  the  clearest 
evidence.  But  I  must  observe,  that  I  restrict  myself,  in  a 
great  measure,  to  the  New  Testament,  not  as  doubting  that 
there  were  many  passages  in  the  Old  which  might  be  brought 
to  enforce  the  same  doctrine — for  we  know  that  the  two  cove 
nants  are  united,  as  it  is  known  what  use  our  Saviour  and  His 
Apostles  made  of  the  prophetical  and  other  writings — but  I 
was  unwilling,  as  such  support  was  not  wanted,  to  call  in  aid 
the  application  of  which  might  possibly  be  controverted. 

Thirdly :  To  the  authorities  from  Scripture  succeed  those 
from  the  Fathers  of  the  five  first  centuries  of  the  Church. 

It  was  suggested  to  me  that  it  would  be  expedient  to  give, 
in  an  Appendix,  the  entire  Latin  and  Greek  originals  of  all 
the  passages  ;  and  I  should  readily  have  complied,  had  I  not 
soon  discovered  that  the  bulk  of  a  work,  which  I  wished  to 
make  as  cheap  and  as  concise  as  my  plan  would  allow,  must 


Xll  INTRODUCTION. 

thereby  be  too  much  augmented.  I  have,  however,  taken  care 
— while  I  attended  to  the  accuracy  of  each  quotation — to  mark 
the  references  so  distinctly,  that  the  originals  might  with  ease 
be  consulted.  Still,  should  the  Latin  and  Greek  be  hereafter 
desired,  they  shall  be  given  separately ;  as  it  would  cost  me 
the  trouble  only  of  transcription.1 

It  may  be  that  I  have  occasionally  erred  in  the  translation 
of  some  passages,  not  always  very  intelligible ;  but  should  any 
such  errors  be  discovered,  I  trust  it  will  not  be  in  any  point 
of  moment.  On  some  occasions,  the  original  of  certain 
clauses  is  given.  It  was  my  wish  to  be  literal  and  plain.  As 
order  and  precision  are  necessary  for  the  attainment  of  ac 
curate  knowledge,  I  thought  it  necessary,  in  quoting  the 
Fathers,  to  preserve  the  chronological  series  of  their  lives  ;  so 
that  each  authority  should  take  its  proper  place.  I  therefore 
marked  each  century,  and  quoted  the  Fathers  who  belonged 
to  it,  in  the  order  in  which  they  lived.  This  is  repeated 
under  each  Proposition.  To  each  name  are  likewise  added 
the  letters  L.  C.  or  G.  €.,  denoting  whether  they  belonged  to 
the  Latin  or  the  Greek  Church  ;  and  when  any  Father  is  the 
first  time  introduced,  I  state  in  a  note  who  he  was,  and  what 
were  his  principal  works. 

It  may  be  asked,  why  I  have  confined  myself  to  the  five 
first  centuries  of  the  Church  ;  why  I  have  not  brought  down 
my  proofs  through  the  whole  series  of  the  succeeding  ages. 
The  answer  is  obvious  :  why  was  I  to  do  more  than  was  neces 
sary?  If  the  doctrine  stated  in  each  Proposition,  that  is,  the 
doctrine  now  professed  by  Catholics,  be  that  which  in  those 
five  centuries  was  taught  and  believed— not  in  one,  but  in  all ; 
not  by  one  Father,  but  by  a  succession  of  them— as  the  faith 
of  all  the  churches,  your  religion  will  be  proved  to  be  apos- 

I  must  acknowledge  my  great  obligations  to  the  Rev.  JOHN  KIRK,  of 
Lichfield,  who,  with  patient  labor,  not  only  revised  and  verified  all  the  pas- 
sages  which  I  had  collected,  but  likewise  supplied  many  others,  which  were 
still  wanting  to  complete  the  body  of  evidence,  from  the  Greek  and  Latin 
Fathers.  I  have  therefore  requested  that  he  will  allow  his  name  to  appear 
with  mine,  as  being  a  joint  laborer  in  the  compilation. 


INTRODUCTION.  xiii 

tolical ;  and  the  deduction  of  the  proof  through  a  longer 
period  of  time  would  have  added  nothing  to  the  evidence. 
Otherwise,  the  task  would  have  required  but  one  kind  of 
labor ;  as  the  authorities,  from  the  increasing  number  of 
writers,  would  have  increased.  They  before  increased,  the 
reader  will  observe,  from  a  like  cause.  The  authorities  from 
the  first  centuries  are  scanty,  compared  with  those  of  the 
fourth  and  fifth,  from  which,  on  account  of  their  number,  I 
was  sometimes  obliged  to  select  the  most  prominent ;  while, 
in  the  preceding  era,  when  the  writers  that  remain  to  us  were 
few,  and  few  the  subjects  on  which  they  wrote,  some  scattered 
passages  were  all  that  could  be  collected.1 

Fourthly  :  Having  completed,  under  each  Proposition,  this 
portion  of  the  work,  I  subjoin,  on  the  same  article,  the  de 
cision  of  the  Council  of  Trent.  This  council  or  synod — the 
last  called  General  that  has  been  celebrated3 — was  opened  in 
the  year  1545,  and  closed,  after  many  interruptions,  in  1563 ; 
the  decrees  of  which  on  faith,  but  not  on  discipline,  are  uni 
versally  admitted  by  the  Catholic  Churches  of  the  west.  My 
motive  for  introducing  the  doctrinal  decrees  of  this  council 
was,  that  the  reader  might  have  it  in  his  power  to  compare 
the  words  of  each  Proposition  with  the  words  of  the  decree  ; 
and  then,  looking  to  the  passages  from  the  Scripture  and  to 
those  from  the  Fathers  through  the  five  centuries  on  the  same 
subject,  judge  impartially  how  far  the  doctrine  is  supported 
by  either  or  by  both.  Or  he  may,  should  it  so  please  him  to 
take  any  point  as  he  had  learnt  it  from  his  catechism,  com- 

1  To  the  English  reader  who  may  wish  to  pursue  the  subject  through  a 
longer  period  of  time,  from  the  introduction  of  Christianity  among  his  an 
cestors  in  the  seventh  century,  I  recommend  the  Antiquities  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  Church,  by  the  REV.  JOHN  LINGARD — a  work  that,  for  deep  research, 
luminous  arrangement,  acute  observation,  and  classical  elegance,  has  not 
been  surpassed.  Could  my  advice  prevail,  he  will  undertake  a  History  of 
England,  a  task  for  which  he  is  eminently  qualified,  and  which — if  we  may 
judge  from  the  samples  before  us  in  RAPIN,  and  HUME,  and  HENRY — an  en 
lightened  Catholic  alone  can  properly  execute.  The  language  of  truth 
flows  not  from  the  pen  which  prejudice  guides. 

*  The  General  Council  of  the  Vatican  was  convoked  since  the  author 
wrote. 


XlV  INTRODUCTION. 

pare  it  with  the  same  as  stated  in  the  Proposition  and  the 
decree  of  Trent ;  and  then  trace  it,  after  considering  the 
Scripture  authorities,  through  those  from  the  Fathers  in  regu 
lar  succession. 

Such  is  the  outline  of  the  form  of  this  compilation.  Some 
further  observations,  however,  seem  necessary,  to  which  I  re 
quest  the  reader's  serious  attention. 

First. — In  reviewing  the  different  articles  of  his  belief,  he 
will  soon  observe,  how  much  more  numerous  are  the  proofs 
from  Scripture  in  support  of  some  than  of  others  ;  in  favor  of 
the  authority  of  the  Church,  let  me  say,  than  of  purgatory,  or 
the  invocation  of  Saints :  and,  if  not  well  instructed  in  the 
principles  of  his  faith,  he  might  thence  be  induced  to  con 
clude,  that  the  latter  articles  rested  not  on  an  authority 
equally  strong  with  the  first.  If  he  so  concluded,  he  would 
palpably  err  as  a  Catholic. 

The  creed  or  religious  belief  of  Catholics  is  not  confined  to 
the  Scriptures :  but  it  is  that  which  our  Saviour  taught,  and 
His  Apostles  delivered,  before  the  sacred  books  of  the  New 
Testament  had  any  existence.  During  the  course  of  His 
mission,  and  after  His  resurrection,  the  Apostles  had  been  in 
structed  by  their  Divine  Master,  fully  and  explicitly,  we  can 
not  doubt,  in  all  things  that  it  was  necessary  for  them  to 
know.  To  them  He  showed  Himself  alive  after  His  passion, 
by  many  proofs,  for  forty  days  appearing  to  them,  and  speak 
ing  of  the  kingdom  of  God  (Acts  i.  3).  Then  giving  to  them 
His  final  commission,  He  distinctly  said  :  Go  ye  therefore  and 
teach  all  nations,  baptizing,  &c. — Teaching  them  to  observe  all 
things  whatsoever  1  have  commanded  you  :  and  behold,  I  am 
with  you  all  days,  even  to  the  consummation  of  the  world 
(Matth.  xxviii.  19,  20). — The  same  commission  is  repeated  : 
Go  ye  into  the  whole  world,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature.  He  that  believeth,  and  is  baptised,  shall  be  saved  ; 
but  he  that  believeth  not  sJiall  be  condemned  (Mark  xvi. 
15,  16). 

Commenting  on  this  commission,  as  stated  by  St.  Matthew, 


INTRODUCTION.  xv 

the  learned  St.  Jerome  calls  the  form  in  which  it  is  delivered 
the  ordo  prwdpuus,  or  the  leading  rule,  and  then  adds  : 
"  Christ  commanded  the  Apostles  first  to  teach  all  nations  ; 
in  the  second  place  to  baptize  them  in  the  Sacrament  of 
faith  ;  and  then,  after  faith  and  baptism,  to  teach  them  what 
things  were  to  be  observed.  And,  lest  we  should  think  that 
these  things  were  of  little  moment,  or  few,  He  added :  all 
things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  ;  that  is,  they  who  have 
believed,  and  have  been  baptized,  shall  observe  all  my  pre 
cepts  ;  and  behold  !  1  am  with  you  all  days,  even  to  the  end  of 
the  world.  This  is  His  promise :  He  will  be  with  His  dis 
ciples  to  the  end  of  the  world  ;  thus  showing,  that  they  shall 
never  die,  and  that  He  will  never  desert  them  that  shall 
believe  in  Him."—  Comment,  in  Matth.  I.  iv.  in  fine  t  iii  r> 
734. 

Had  Christ  said  :  "  Go  and  commit  to  writing  the  Gospel, 
or  those  saving  truths,  which  you  have  heard  from  my  mouth  ; 
and  let  that  writing,  or  written  word,  be  the  rule  of  belief  to 
those  whom  you  shall  instruct,  and  to  their  successors,  to  the 
end  of  the  world,"— had  He  said  this,  the  point  had  been 
clear.  But  He  said  it  not :  He  commands  them  to  go  and  to 
teach,  or  preach.  The  commission  is  to  teach  ;  and  obedience 
to  that  teaching  is  enjoined  under  the  severest  menace  :  He 
that  believeth  not  shall  be  condemned,1  or,  as  you  may  have 
seen  it  rendered,  shatt  be  damned. 

Under  what  latitude  of  interpretation  can  it  now  be  main 
tained,  that  this  positive  ordinance  of  Christ  was  merely  tem 
porary  ;  that  it  was  to  cease,  and  be  superseded  by  another 
rule,  when  the  Apostles  should  be  dead,  and  the  writings, 
which  they  might  leave  behind  them,  should  have  been  de 
clared  authentic,  and  have  obtained  a  very  general  circula 
tion  ?— Were  this  to  have  been  so,  without  any  effort  of  the 
imagination  I  might  be  allowed  to  represent  to  myself  the 
Apostle  St.  John,  who  survived  his  brethren,  surrounded  at 
Ephesus— as  we  are  told  he  often  was— by  his  disciples,  and 


xvi  INTRODUCTION. 

thus  addressing  them  :  "  My  dear  children,  I  have  finished 
my  Gospel,  written  some  epistles,  as  likewise  the  work,  which, 
from  the  various  scenes  therein  described,  I  have  entitled 
Apocalypse  or  Kevelations.  Three  other  Gospels  have  been 
compiled  ;  a  narrative,  called  Acts,  made  public ;  and  my 
brothers  Peter,  Paul,  James,  and  Jude,  have  addressed  cer 
tain  letters  to  the  Churches.  I  can  speak  to  their  truth  and 
their  authenticity.  Now  then— as  my  time  of  abiding  with 
you  is  short— it  is  essential  that  you  should  know,  that  these 
writings  are  to  be  the  future  rule  of  belief  to  you  and  to  all 
the  faithful  to  the  end  of  the  world— not  that  ordinance  of 
teaching,  which  our  Master  delivered  to  us" 

Polycarp,  the  venerable  Bishop  of  Smyrna,  who  was  ac 
quainted  with  many  of  the  disciples  of  Christ,  and  particular 
ly  with  St.  John,  does  not  tell  us,  that  he  was  ever  addressed  in 
that  manner.  But  it  is  said  of  him,  that  "  he  always  taught 
what  he  had  learnt  from  the  Apostles."  And  yet,  surely,  it 
was  the  duty  of  the  Evangelist  so  to  have  instructed  his 
pupils,  had  he  been  aware,  that  a  new  order  of  teaching  and 
believing  was  thenceforth  to  prevail.  It  is  admitted,  that  the 
greatest  part  of  the  books  of  the  New  Testament  was,  at  this 
time,  coming  into  the  general  use  of  the  Christian  Churches. 
The  moment  then  was  opportune  and  critical. 

We  Catholics,  therefore,  believe,  that  our  Master,  Christ, 
established  a  rule,  which  was  to  last  as  long  as  His  religion 
should  last ;  and  that  to  give  to  that  rule  a  security  that 
should  never  fail,  He  promised  to  be  with  the  Apostles  and 
their  successors,  even  to  the  consummation  of  the  world.  We 
likewise  think,  that  the  perpetuity  of  that  faith,  which  Christ 
came  down  from  Heaven  to  establish,  would  have  been  ill- 
provided  for— rather,  would  not  have  been  provided  for  at  all 
—if  that  ordinance  of  teaching,  which,  during  His  life-time, 
and  that  of  His  Apostles,  was  judged  necessary,  had  been 
then  suspended,  when  it  began  to  be  most  wanted.  He  would 
be  with  His  Apostles— who  could  enforce,  even  by  miracles, 
the  truths  which  they  had  received  from  His  lips— but  would 


INTRODUCTION .  X  vii 

leave  their  successors  to  the  guidance  of  their  own  judgments  ; 
or,  which  is  the  same  thing,  to  the  guidance  of  a  rule,  which 
Himself  had  not  established,  and  that  on  points  avowedly  not 
within  the  competence  of  human  reason. 

The  Apostles  taught  the  truths  which  they  had  learnt  from 
Christ.  1  have  received  of  the  Lord,  said  St.  Paul  (1  Cor.  xi. 
23),  that  which  I  also  delivered  to  you :  and  again :  For  I 
delivered  to  you  first  of  all,  which  1  also  received :  how  that 
Christ  died  for  our  sins  according  to  the  Scriptures  (Ibid. 
xv.  3).  This  is  the  ordo  prcecipuus,  the  leading  rule  ;  first  to 
receive,  and  then  deliver.  He  does  not  say,  that  he  learnt  it 
from  the  Scriptures ;  but  that  he  had  received  it.  And  the 
same  truths,  by  the  same  mode  of  teaching,  have  continued  to 
be  delivered  down  to  us,  by  the  Pastors  of  the  Church,  the 
successors  of  those  Apostles.1  The  difference  lies  in  this 
only :  That  the  interval  between  us  and  Jesus  Christ,  the 
fountain  of  every  Christian  truth,  is  measured  by  eighteen 
centuries;  whereas  the  communication  between  that  foun 
tain  and  the  Apostles,  and  between  these  Apostles  and  the 
next  to  them  in  succession,  was  immediate.  But  the  truth  is 
not  lost,  nor  altered,  nor  weakened  by  descent,  when  an  un 
broken  chain  of  living  witnesses,  provided  with  all  necessary 
documents,  proclaims  its  identity,  and  the  promised  assistance 

1  "  We  received  the  Gospel  from  the  Apostles,"  says  St.  Clement;  "  they 
were  sent  by  Jesus  Christ;  Jesus  Christ  was  sent  by  God;  and  both  hap 
pened  agreeably  to  the  will  of  God.  Receiving  command,  and  by  the  resur 
rection  of  our  Lord  fully  secured  and  strengthened  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  the 
Apostles  went  out,  announcing  the  coming  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  They 
preached  through  the  country  and  towns,  and  appointed  bishops  and  dea 
cons,  their  first  fruits,  and  whom  they  had  proved  by  the  spirit.  Nor  was 
this  anything  new:  the  prophet  (Isaias  c.  Ix.  17)  had  foretold  it.  These 
our  Apostles  knew,  through  Jesus  Christ,  that  disputes  concerning  episco 
pacy  would  arise ;  wherefore  they  appointed  those  of  whom  1  have  spoken, 
and  thus  established  the  series  of  future  succession,  that  when  they  should 
die,  other  approved  men  might  enter  on  their  ministry.  And  of  this  min 
istry  we  cannot,  without  injustice,  deprive  those  who  were  so  appointed  by 
the  Apostles,  or  by  other  eminent  men,  with  the  approbation  of  the  whole 
Church;  and  who,  in  the  practice  of  many  virtues,  and  with  the  good  testi 
mony  of  all,  have  long  without  blame  watched  over  the  fold  of  Christ," — 
Ep.  \.  ad  Cor.  Inter  PP.  Apost.  t.  i.  pp.  171-3,  Amstel. 


xviii  INTRODUCTION. 

of  the  Holy  Spirit  gives  security  to  their  words :  1  am  with 
you  all  days,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world. 

But  how  is  Jesus  Christ  with  the  Pastors  of  His  Church  ? — 
How !  Does  it  become  a  thinking  Christian  to  ask  this  ques 
tion  ?  IIow  does  the  divine  Providence  govern  the  world  ?— 
How,  after  He  had  left  the  earth,  could  Christ,  as  He  pro 
mised,  be  with  His  Apostles  ? — IIow  were  the  writers  of  the 
Scriptures  inspired  in  the  execution  of  their  tasks  ? 

But,  if  the  subject  be  duly  considered,  it  should  appear, 
that  no  particular  interference  of  the  -divine  Spirit,  in  the 
government  of  the  Church,  is,  on  ordinary  occasions,  neces 
sary  to  preserve  its  Pastors  from  error.  They  deliver  what 
they  received.  To  this  all  are  witnesses :  the  decisions  of 
Councils  are  witnesses ;  the  faithful  are  witnesses ;  all  litur 
gies  and  other  forms  of  prayer  are  witnesses ;  the  catechisms 
and  books  of  public  instruction  are  witnesses ;  and  the  writ 
ings  of  all  preceding  teachers,  joined  to  the  admitted  testi 
mony  of  the  Scriptures,  are  witnesses.  A  barrier,  in  defence 
of  the  truths  once  received,  is  thus  formed,  which  no  subtlety 
can  undermine,  no  boldness  surmount.  Still  we  cannot  doubt, 
that  God,  with  paternal  kindness,  watches  over  the  great  work 
of  His  mercy,  and  interferes,  as  He  judges  it  expedient ;  in 
the  same  manner,  as  it  is  believed,  He  guided  the  pens  of  the 
evangelists,  though  all  of  them,  by  other  means,  were  in  pos 
session  of  the  facts  which  they  relate.  For  as  much  as  many, 
says  St.  Luke  i.  1,  2,  3,  have  taken  in  hand  to  set  forth  in 
order  a  narration  of  those  things  that  have  been  accomplished 
amongst  us  :  according  as  they  have  delivered  them  unto  us, 
who  from  the  beginning  were  eye-witnesses  and  ministers  of 
the  word :  it  seemed  good  to  me  also,  having  diligently  at 
tained  to  all  things  from  the  beginning,  to  write  to  thee  in 
order,  most  excellent  Theophilus. 

But  here,  I  admit,  a  question  may  be  very  fairly  proposed. 
— If  the  ordinance  of  teaching,  delivered  to  the  Apostles, 
was  designed  to  be  perpetual,  as  has  been  said,  of  what  use 
are  the  Scriptures  of  the  New  Testament? — We  conceive 


INTRODUCTION.  xix 

them  to  be  of  no  use,  as  an  independent  rule  of  faith,  for 
this  plain  reason :  That,  as  all  the  truths,  which  we  believe 
to  be  divine,  and  which  are  the  objects  of  our  faith,  came 
immediately  from  Christ,  and  were  taught  by  the  Apostles, 
before  those  Scriptures  were  written — we  are  not  at  liberty 
to  think,  that  those  truths  would  not  have  remained,  to  the 
end  of  the  world,  pure  and  unaltered,  had  that  primitive  state 
of  things  continued  ;  that  is,  had  it  never  seemed  good  to 
any  of  the  apostolic  men,  as  it  did  to  St.  Luke,  to  commit  to 
writing  what  they  had  learned.  He  did  it,  he  says,  that 
Theophilus,  to  whom  he  writes,  might  know  the  verity  of 
those  words  in  which  he  had  been  instructed  (v.  4).1 

But  though  these  Scriptures  are  not  to  us  a  rule  of  faith, 
taken  independently  of  the  teaching  authority  of  the  pastors 
of  the  Church,  the  successors  of  the  Apostles ;  yet  we  vene 
rate  them  as  a  sacred  deposit  bequeathed  to  us  by  the  kindest 
of  parents,  containing  truths  of  high  moment,  practical  les 
sons  of  saving  morality,  and  facts  of  history,  relating  to  the 
life  of  our  Saviour  and  the  conduct  of  His  disciples,  eminent 
ly  interesting  and  instructive.  For  this  we  are  deeply  grate 
ful.  Nor  have  I  mentioned  all  the  advantages  to  be  derived 
from  the  Scriptures.  For,  as  the  nature  of  the  present  work 
will  evince,  they  come  forward,  with  a  powerful  aid,  to  sup 
port,  by  the  evidence  of  their  contents,  the  divine  truth  of 
the  faith  which  we  have  received ;  applying  that  aid,  in  a 

1  The  following  just  observations  of  an  eminent  scholar,  but  whom  the 
exercise  of  private  judgment  often  led  astrav,  I  transcribe  with  plea 
sure  :  "Our  knowledge  of  the  facts  related  in  the  Gospels  is  derived  from 
them ;  but  OUT  faith  or  belief  in  them  does  not  rest  on  the  testimony  of  the 
writers  of  those  books,  but  on  that  of  those  who  first  received  these  books, 
and  who  transmitted  them  to  us  as  authentic,  knowing  them  to  be  deserv 
ing  of  credit.  The  facts,  therefore,  of  the  New  Testament,  we  believe,  not 
on  the  evidence  of  four  persons,  but  on  that  of  thousands  who  were  well 
acquainted  with  their  truth,  and  by  whom  the  contents  of  the  Gospels  were 
credited.  These  books  were  not  the  cause  of  the  belief  of  Christians  in  the 
first  ages,  but  the  effect  of  that  belief;  the  books  being  received  by  them, 
because  d  priori  they  knew  that  their  contents  were  true.  Consequently, 
if  these  books  had  not  existed,  the  belief  in  the  facts  of  Christianity  would 
have  been  the  same,  and  it  would  not  be  weakened  if  they  were  not  to 
exist."— Lexers  to  a  Young  Man,  Part  II. ,  by  Dr.  Priestley. 


XX  INTRODUCTION. 

just  measure,  to  each  article,  and  giving  a  lustre  to  the  whole. 
So  Theophilus,  when  he  should  read  that  admirable  narration 
which  St.  Luke  compiles  for  him,  would  be  more  and  more 
confirmed  in  the  verity  of  those  words  in  which  he  had  been 
instructed. 

Keally,  I  cannot  understand  under  what  security  of  con 
science  we  could,  unauthorized,  choose  that  for  a  rule  of  be 
lief  which  Christ  did  not  appoint,  and  which,  if  expounded 
by  private  interpretation,  must  often  lead  into  error ;  and 
neglect  that  authority  which  He  so  positively  ordained  to  be 
our  guide.  Go  ye,  and  teach  all  nations :  teaching  them  to 
observe  all  things  whatsoever  1  have  commanded  you.  And 
yet  I  believe  it  has  been  said — not  by  any  member,  indeed,  of 
the  Catholic  Church — that  "  the  Scriptures  are  the  sole  rule 
of  faith,  and  reason  their  sole  interpreter,"  that  is,  that  each 
one  shall  teacli  himself. 

St.  Paul  allowed  not  this  liberty  to  his  Corinthian  converts. 
He  speaks  to  them  of  the  Gospel  which  he  had  preached ; 
which  they  had  received ;  and  wherein  they  stand ;  and  by 
this,  he  adds,  you  are  saved,  if  you  holdfast  after  what 
manner  I  preached  to  yon,  unless  you  have  believed  in  vain 
(1  Cor.  xv.  1,  2).  No  choice  is  allowed  :  they  must  believe 
as  he  had  taught  them. 

The  Catholic  reader  will  now  be  sensible,  should  any  point 
of  his  belief  seem  to  receive  little  support,  or  even  no  sup 
port,  from  any  text  of  Scripture,  that  its  truth  is  not  thereby 
affected,  as  its  divine  origin  from  Christ,  and  its  descent  from 
the  Apostles,  remain  the  same  ;  and,  therefore,  that  the  doc 
trine  of  Purgatory  and  the  Invocation  of  Saints  stands  on 
the  same  foundation  as  that  of  the  Authority  of  the  Church, 
though,  in  support  of  the  former,  the  evidence  of  Scripture 
be  comparatively  weak.  Why  or  how  has  this  happened,  let 
him  say,  who  hath  known  the  mind  of  the  Lord,  and  hath 
been  His  counsellor  (Rom.  xi.  34). 

But  even  where  the  proofs  from  Scripture  are  most  plain 
and  most  abundant,  the  well-taught  Catholic  does  not  apply 


INTRODUCTION.  XXI 

them  definitively,  as  the  light  of  his  own  understanding  may 
direct  him  ;  but  he  turns  to  the  guide  that  Christ  appointed, 
that  is,  the  teaching  authority  of  the  successors  of  the  Apos 
tles  ;  which  guide  will  lead  him  through  the  paths  of  truth, 
by  explaining  in  what  sense  the  passages  of  Scripture  on 
doctrinal  points  hare  at  all  times  been  understood,  expound 
ed,  and  applied.  Such  a  guide  is  manifestly  necessary,  when, 
on  those  points — as  it  too  often  happens — the  meaning  of  any 
passage  has  been  made  a  subject  of  controversy.  For  it  need 
not  be  said,  how  prone  to  error  is  the  undirected  mind  of 
man ;  and  that  when  he  thinks  that  he  follows  the  evidence 
of  the  written  word,  which  must  be  to  him  a  silent  letter,  it 
is  his  own  fancy  that  he  follows,  or  the  delusive  light  of  a 
very  fallible  understanding.  Such  a  guide,  says  the  Catholic, 
can  give  me  no  security  ;  while,  if  I  wish  for  subjects  on 
which  to  exercise  the  powers  of  my  mind — in  which  to  err, 
indeed,  may  be  easy,  but  where  error  would  be  innocent — 
they  present  themselves  on  every  side.  On  points  avowedly 
above  my  reach,  I  wish  to  risk  no  decision,  nor  on  collateral 
subjects  connected  with  them ;  for  errors  in  religion,  I  am 
told,  have  all  arisen  from  the  Scriptures  misunderstood,  or 
have  been  maintained  by  alleged  proofs  derived  from  them. 

The  security  which  a  Catholic,  well  instructed,  experiences 
in  the  profession  of  his  belief,  resting  on  the  teaching  au 
thority  established  by  Christ,  must  be  esteemed  a  signal  bless 
ing.  And  what  adds  to  it  is,  that  the  more  he  inquires,  the 
more  he  finds  that  security  confirmed,  as  he  ascends,  through 
the  annals  of  time,  towards  Christ  and  His  Apostles  ;  while 
the  unlettered  man,  by  a  few  plain  documents,  is  taught  that 
the  guides  whom  his  Saviour  has  commanded  him  to  follow, 
can  lead  him  securely  into  all  truths ;  and  that,  in  trusting  to 
them,  he  trusts  in  God. 

I  would  ask  the  soundest  reasoner,  when  I  had  obtained 
from  him  the  concession  that  it  was  important  to  believe  the 
truths  that  Christ  came  from  heaven  to  establish ;  and  that, 
on  the  admission  of  those  truths,  as  the  same  divine  Teacher 


XX11  INTRODUCTION. 

had  so  positively  declared,  depended  future  happiness, — I 
would  ask  him,  I  say,  were  I  at  a  loss  by  what  means  to  come 
to  the  knowledge  of  those  truths,  what  advice  he  would  give 
me  ?  Would  he  advise  me  to  search  the  Scriptures  for  them, 
and  rely  on  my  own  sagacity  for  the  discovery  ;  when  I  added, 
that,  on  less  important  subjects,  my  own  judgment  often  de 
ceived  me ;  and  that,  in  regard  to  the  meaning  of  some  lead 
ing  points  in  the  Scriptures,  there  were  as  many  (and  as  oppo 
site)  opinions  as  there  were  lines  ?  Or  would  he  refer  me  to 
such  a  guide  as  has  been  described,  the  speaking  authority  of 
the  Catholic  Church,  which  could  tell  me  in  what  sense  those 
Scriptures,  on  the  points  in  question,  had  at  all  times  been 
expounded ;  and,  besides,  could  hold  out  to  me  a  clue,  that 
should  safely  lead  me,  through  the  series  of  ages,  up  to  the 
time  when  Christ  Himself  taught,  and  the  Apostles,  as  He 
commanded,  delivered  the  doctrines  which  they  had  received 
from  Him  ? 

What  his  advice  would  be,  cannot  be  doubted.  And  I  can 
as  little  doubt  that  he  would  proceed  to  assure  me,  that  to 
rely  on  any  other  guide,  or  to  oppose  to  it  the  guidance  of 
"  private  judgment,"  must  obviously  arise  from  the  most  in 
veterate  prejudice,  or  from  a  wild  conviction,  that  it  mattered 
not  what  a  man  believed,  when  he  chose  a  guide  that  could 
not  direct  him. 

I  am  then  convinced,  would  the  serious  inquirer — laying 
aside  every  other  motive  but  the  evidence  which  common 
reason  would  present  to  him — decide  impartially,  that  he  must 
embrace  the  Catholic  principle  of  a  teaching  authority,  resting 
on  the  commission  given  by  our  Saviour  to  His  Apostles, 
and  the  concomitant  promise  of  perpetual  assistance. 

But  is  not  this  authority  an  overbearing  control  ?  Does  it 
not  infringe  that  liberty  of  conscience  which  each  one,  it  is 
often  said,  enjoys  of  choosing  his  own  faith,  and  of  professing 
what  he  has  chosen  ? 

That  man  enjoys  this  liberty  in  regard  to  his  fellow-man,  I 
.am  ready  to  allow.  To  one  another  we  are  not  accountable. 


INTRODUCTION.  xxiii 

But  is  it  so  in  regard  to  heaven  ?  When  Christ  said  to  His 
Apostles :  Go  ye  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature. 
He  that  believeth,  and  is  baptised,  shall  be  saved  •  'but  lie  that 
believeth  not  shall  be  condemned  (Mark  xvi.) :  when  He  pro 
nounced  this  solemn  threat,  if  Peter,  with  his  usual  prompt 
ness,  had  observed :  "  Master,  shall  this  be  ?  Shall  that  lib 
erty  be  thus  taken  away,  which  every  disciple  should  enjoy 
of  choosing  his  own  faith,  and  of  professing  what  he  shall 
have  thus  chosen?" — I  leave  it  to  the  person  who  maybe 
supposed  to  have  made  the  objection,  to  say,  what,  proba 
bly,  on  the  occasion,  would  have  been  the  reply  of  Christ. 
I  will  suggest  to  him  only,  what,  on  another  occasion,  He 
did  say  to  the  same  Peter :  Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan  •  thou 
art  a  scandal  to  me:  because  thou  savor est  not  the  things 
that  are  of  God,  but  the  things  that  are  of  men  (Matt. 
xvi.  23). 

Notwithstanding  what  I  have  said  of  the  authority  of  teach 
ing  Pastors,  succeeding  to  the  Apostles,  and  exercising  their 
ministry  in  the  propagation  and  maintenance  of  divine  truth, 
I  am  aware,  that  we  often  speak  of  the  written  word,  or  the 
Scripture,  as  a  rule  of  faith. — This  has  arisen  from  the  great 
authority  those  Scriptures  bear,  as  the  inspired  word  of  God, 
and  as  containing  the  chief  points  of  Christian  belief.  But 
that  they  are  not  to  us,  as  I  before  expressed  it,  an  indepen 
dent  rule,  is  manifest,  when  it  is  moreover  observed,  that,  not 
only  do  they  owe  their  integrity  to  the  vigilant  care  of  the 
Church  ;  but  that  no  passage  in  them,  on  doctrinal  points,  is 
ever  explained  in  any  other  sense  than  as  that  Church,  in 
conformity  with  what  she  has  received,  explains  them. 
Hence  we  lay  it  down  as  an  introductory  and  certain  prin 
ciple  :  "  That  all  that,  and  that  only  is  of  Catholic  Faith, 
which  God  has  revealed,  and  the  Church  proposes  to  our 
belief." — "The  Catholic  Christian,"  observes  the  learned 
Bishop  of  Meaux,  "  forms  not  his  faith  by  reading  the  Scrip 
tures  :  his  faith  is  already  formed  before  he  begins  to  read : 
reading  serves  only  to  confirm  what  he  before  believed ;  that 


XXIV  INTRODUCTION. 

is,  to  confirm  the  doctrine  which  the  Church  had  delivered 
to  him." — Conference  avec  M.  Claude,  p.  330. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  I  should  say  why,  in  stating  the  dis 
tinct  articles  of  Catholic  belief,  I  have  not  included  in  them 
the  high  mysterious  doctrines  of  original  sin,  the  Trinity  of 
persons,  the  Incarnation  of  the  second  person,  and  the  atone 
ment  for  sin. — I  did  not  include  them,  because  they  are  gene 
rally  admitted  by  all  societies  of  Christians — the  followers  of 
Socinus  excepted — and  my  object  was,  to  establish  those  parts 
alone  which  form  the  peculiar  belief  of  Catholics.  For  which 
reason,  as  will  be  seen,  I  have  lightly  passed  over  the  Sacra 
ment  of  Baptism. 

To  the  high  doctrines  just  mentioned  we  bow  with  submis 
sive  reverence ;  and  from  the  rule  which,  in  their  regard, 
guides  the  decision  of  our  minds,  we  learn  how,  on  other 
points,  derived  from  the  same  divine  source,  to  proceed. 
Them  we  embrace,  because  Christ  and  His  Apostles  taught 
them  :  but  Christ  and  His  Apostles  taught  these  other  points : 
to  these,  therefore,  we  submit.  To  act  otherwise  would,  sure 
ly,  be  absurd.  They  come  down  to  us  through  the  same  se 
ries  of  receiving  and  delivering ;  the  Scriptures  confirming 
their  truth,  and  the  Fathers,  in  their  writings,  witnessing  the 
legitimacy  of  their  descent.  And  shall  human  arrogance  here 
interfere ;  and  because  it  judges  some  points  to  accord  better 
with  its  notions  of  truth  than  others,  receive  these,  and  reject 
the  others ;  receive  the  doctrines  of  original  sin,  of  the  Trin 
ity,  of  the  Incarnation,  and  of  the  Atonement,  and  reject  that 
of  the  corporeal  presence  in  the  Eucharist  ?  Or  the  motive 
may  be,  that  the  Scriptures,  called  in,  without  authority,  to 
be  the  sole  rule  of  belief,  and  arbitrarily  expounded,  shall 
seem  to  speak  more  distinctly  on  some  points  than  on  others. 

It  here  seems  expedient  to  notice  a  charge,  often  urged 
against  Catholics,  that  the  use  of  reason,  in  the  concern  of  re 
ligion,  is  forbidden  to  them. — That  this  should  have  been  said 
by  Deists,  who  reject  all  revelation,  or  by  the  followers  of 
Socinus,  to  whose  understandings  no  mysteries  are  acceptable,, 


INTRODUCTION.  XXV 

I  can  readily  conceive.  But  I  cannot  conceive  that  it  should 
be  heard  from  men,  who  themselves  believe  that  the  Divine 
Being  has  communicated  His  will  to  man,  and  that,  in  the 
manifestation  of  that  will,  may  be,  and  are,  not  one,  but  va 
rious  subjects,  placed  beyond  the  reach  of  human  comprehen 
sion.  For,  by  admitting  but  one  single  point — let  us  say  that 
of  the  Incarnation  of  the  second  person — not,  it  is  plain,  from 
any  evidence  in  the  object,  but  on  the  single  motive  of  its 
having  been  so  revealed,  they,  by  this,  admit  a  principle  on 
which  the  whole  fabric  of  Catholic  belief  rests. 

To  make  this  more  plain,  let  me  ask  you,  who  are  ready  to 
submit  your  reasoning  powers  to  this  limited  suspension — 
why  you  are  a  Christian.  "I  am  a  Christian,"  you  will 
answer,  "  because,  having  maturely  weighed  the  various  argu 
ments  which  prove  the  authenticity  of  the  Jewish  Scriptures  ; 
dwelt  on  the  prophecies  therein  contained,  and  looked  forward 
to  their  fulfilment,  I  seemed  to  discover — in  applying  those 
prophecies  to  a  personage,  who  appeared  among  the  Jews  in 
the  reign  of  Augustus  Caesar — their  probable  completion.  At 
the  same  time,  a  general  expectation  among  nations,  and  parti 
cularly  in  Judea,  selected  that  period  as  the  season  of  some 
great  event.  Fondly  then  I  contemplated  the  birth  of  that 
personage,  with  its  wonderful  circumstances,  His  character, 
His  conduct,  His  lessons  of  new  morality,  His  miracles,  His 
sufferings,  His  death,  His  resurrection  from  the  dead,  and  His 
glorious  ascension  into  heaven ;  all  recorded  in  the  simple 
language  of  truth,  by  witnesses  who  could  have  no  motive  to 
deceive  me.  And  these  witnesses,  with  their  associates  in  the 
same  cause,  afterwards,  I  found,  all  died  attesting  the  truth 
of  what  they  had  heard  and  seen.  The  personage  then,  called 
Jesus  Christ,  who  lived  and  died,  as  is  related,  was  manifest 
ly,  I  concluded,  the  expected  MESSIAH,  in  whom  the  ancient 
prophecies  were  fulfilled,  and  who  was  sent  by  God  to  make 
known  His  further  will  to  man.  To  His  lessons  I  then  submit 
as  to  the  voice  from  Heaven :  I  embrace  His  law,  whether  it 
contain  moral  precepts — the  obvious  tendency  of  which  I 


XXvi  INTRODUCTION. 

plainly  see — or  it  contain  mysterious  doctrines  which  I  cannot 
comprehend.  In  these,  the  authority  of  the  teacher  is  the 
motive  of  my  belief.  Shall  I,  weak  and  limited  as  I  am  in 
all  my  powers,  attempt  to  measure  what  may  be  infinite ;  or 
withhold  my  assent,  because,  having  compared  what  is  spiritual 
with  what  is  earthly,  I  discover  not  that  analogy  or  those  rela 
tions,  on  which  my  understanding  can  repose  ? 

"  The  establishment  of  Christianity  is  then  to  me  a  Fact,  to 
which,  by  no  laborious  process  of  reasoning,  I  have  been  con 
ducted  ;  and,  being  thus  far  advanced,  if  I  demur  or  hesitate 
to  believe,  from  any  such  motives  as  have  been  mentioned, 
that  same  reason,  which  hitherto  has  been  my  guide,  will  not 
fail  to  tell  me,  that,  in  so  doing,  I  act  not  the  part  of  a  Chris 
tian  nor  of  a  philosopher  : — I  have  said,  why  1  am  a  Chris 
tian" 

The  reasoning,  I  admit,  is  accurately  just :  but  I  must  be  al 
lowed  to  add,  that  it  is  my  own,  and  that  of  every  Catholic, 
who,  from  considering  the  motives  of  credibility,  as  they  are 
called,  has  been  led  to  the  belief  of  the  fact  of  the  Christian 
dispensation.  But  does  the  exercise  of  his  reasoning  facul 
ties  terminate  here  ?  It  does  not  ;  because,  from  the  unhap 
py  divisions  of  the  Christian  world,  he  is  compelled  to  go 
further. 

I  will  now  say  why  lama  Catholic.  First,  however,  let 
me  observe,  that  the  distinction  between  Catholic  and  Chris 
tian,  in  their  proper  acceptation,  is  a  distinction  without  a  dif 
ference.  It  prevails,  however,  and  has  long  prevailed,  to  a 
certain  extent ;  since,  as  early  as  the  fourth  century  (though 
before  well  known),  a  Spanish  Bishop,  reasoning  against  the 
Novatians,  who  had  separated  themselves  from  the  Church, 
says  :  "  Christian  is  my  name  ;  Catholic  is  my  surname."  It 
served,  therefore,  to  denote  those,  who  adhered  to,  and  were 
members  of,  that  great  society,  which  in  the  Creed  is  called 
The  Catholic  Church. 

I  am  a  Catholic,  then,  because  I  am  a  Christian  ;  and  I  rea 
son  in  the  following  manner  : — I.  Having  been  conducted,  as 


INTRODUCTION.  XXvil 

has  been  stated,  to  the  threshold  of  divine  Faith,  am  I  not 
bound  to  receive,  as  undoubted  truths,  whatever  God,  in  His 
goodness,  has  taught  me  by  His  Son,  without  demur  and  with 
out  wavering ;  not  inquiring  whether  they  accord  with  my 
preconceived  notions,  or  with  the  relations  and  analogies  of 
things  conceived  in  my  mind  ? 

II.  Would  not  such  demur,  and  wavering,  and  such  inquiry, 
argue  pride,  and  a  culpable  want  of  confidence  in  that  Being, 
whose  wisdom,  and  power,  and  goodness,  and  love  for  His 
creatures,  we  know  to  be  without  bounds  ? 

III.  But  how  am  I  to  learn  what  truths  those  are  which  God 
has  revealed  ? 

IY.  Am  I  to  learn  them — for  eighteen  hundred  years  have 
now  elapsed  since  first  they  were  delivered — am  I  to  learn 
them  from  those  records,  called  the  Books  of  the  New  Testa 
ment,  wherein  are  deposited  many  words  and  actions  of  our 
Saviour's  life  and  conversation,  as  likewise  many  rules  of  be 
lief  and  practice — or  may  those  truths  be  collected  from  any 
other  source  ? 

Y.  To  satisfy  this  difficulty,  should  I  not  inquire,  whether 
any  Rule  has  been  prescribed,  which  it  is  my  duty  to  follow, 
and,  by  following  which,  I  shall  learn,  in  perfect  security,  the 
truths  in  question  ;  conscious,  that,  without  such  rule  to  guide 
me,  I  must  be  liable,  from  the  very  character  of  my  mind,  to 
fall  into  misconceptions  and  error  ? 

YI.  I  now  turn  to  those  Scriptures,  and  perusing  them  with 
respectful  caution,  I  find,  that,  in  giving  His  last  instructions 
to  His  Apostles,  Christ  bids  them  Go,  and  teach  all  nations, 
teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  He  had  com 
manded  ;  and  He  promises  to  be  with  them  all  days,  even  to 
the  end  of  the  world  (Matt,  xxviii.)  In  the  Gospel  of  St. 
Mark  (c.  xvi.),  I  find  the  same  injunction  repeated,  with  the 
threat,  that  he  who  believeth  not  the  Gospel,  which  shall  be 
preached  to  every  creature,  shall  be  condemned. 

YIL  This  is  the  ordinance  or  rule  which  I  sought :  and  by 
it,  I  plainly  see,  two  things  are  established  ;  first,  an  authority 


XXVlii  INTRODUCTION. 

which  is  to  point  out  to  me,  by  teaching,  what  I  am  to  believe ; 
and,  secondly,  a  duty,  if  I  will  be  saved,  of  listening  to  and 
obeying  that  authority. 

VIII.  But  I  cannot  discover,  that  any  command  is  given,  of 
committing  to  writing  what  our  Saviour  had  taught,  nor  any 
reference  made  to  books  that  might  be  written.     Go  and  teach 
is  the  simple  mandate :  and  as,  during  the  lives  of  the  Apos 
tles,  there  was  no  written  word  that  could  be  a  rule,  under 
what  new  injunction  is  the  rule  of  teaching  set  aside,  and  that 
of  Scripture-interpretation  substituted  ? 

IX.  The  authority  then,  of  which  I  speak,  was  first  lodged 
with  the  Apostles,  to  whom  it  was  directly  committed ;  but 
as  they,  in  a  few  years,  would  be  called  away  from  their 
labors,  and  Christ  promised  that  He  would  be  with  them  to 
the  end  of  the  world,  must  not  this  promise  include  them 
and  their  successors  in  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel  ? 

X.  Should  it  be  restricted  to  the  few  years  of  the  lives  of 
the  Apostles,  would  Heaven,  I  humbly  ask,  have  sufficiently 
provided  for  the  perpetuity  of  that  faith,  the  foundations  of 
which  had  been  laid  at  such  a  vast  expense  of  supernatural 
means  ? 

XI.  In  the  successors,  then,  of  the  Apostles,  I  conclude, 
was  to  be  lodged,  when  they  were  gone,  the  same  authority 
of  teaching ;  and  to  the  faithful  was  to  descend,  under  the 
same  menace  of  condemnation,  the  duty  of  receiving  what 
they  should  be  thus  taught. 

XII.  Still,  this  being  allowed  me,  must  it  not  be  proved — 
in  order  to  ascertain  the  genuine  character  of  these  teachers 
— that  the  line  of  their  succession  from  the  Apostles,  during 
eighteen  hundred  years,  has  not  been  broken ;   and,  more 
over,  that  nothing,  at  any  time,  has  been  added  to,  nor  taken 
from,   that   deposit   of   sacred   truths,  which   was  originally 
committed  to  the  Apostles  ? 

XIII.  Doubtless,  this  must  be  proved : — First,  then,  I  look 
to  the  promise  of  Christ,  that  He  would  be  with  the  pastors 
of  His  Church  to  the  end  of  the  world. — Secondly,  I  turn  to 


INTRODUCTION.  XXIX 

the  annals  of  history,  in  which  is  recorded  the  succession  of 
those  pastors — the  object  of  my  research — and  I  particularly 
select  the  succession  of  the  Bishops  of  Rome. — Thirdly,  I 
institute  a  similar  inquiry,  through  a  similar  research,  on  the 
points  of  belief. 

XIY.  The  result  of  this  investigation  is — That  a  line  of 
succession,  in  that  Church,  may  be  traced,  distinctly  and  in- 
controvertibly ;  and  that,  whether  I  take  the  whole  code  of 
belief,  or,  which  is  more  easily  accomplished,  select  any  one 
article ;  state  it,  as  it  is  now  publicly  taught ;  and  pursue  it 
through  the  popular  books  of  instruction,  and  the  writings  of 
those,  who,  in  every  age,  have  recorded  its  doctrine — I  am, 
invariably,  brought  to  one  conclusion,  that  the  Catholic  be 
lief  of  the  nineteenth  century  does,  in  no  point,  differ  from 
the  belief  of  the  early  ages,  that  is,  from  the  belief  of  the 
Apostles. 

XY.  Here  I  rest  in  perfect  security :  my  reason  has  led 
me  to  a  guide,  and  to  that  guide  I  submit  my  judgment,  on 
all  those  points  which  it  has  pleased  God  to  reveal,  and  His 
Church  proposes  to  my  belief. — I  have  said,  why  I  am  a 
Catholic. 

But  let  it  not  be  imagined,  that,  because  the  Catholic  bows 
in  humble  submission  to  the  voice  of  the  teaching  authority, 
on  such  points,  and  so  far,  as  Christ  has  commanded,  that  his 
liberty,  on  other  subjects,  is  abridged  ;  or  that,  on  such  sub 
jects,  he  is  not  as  free  to  reason,  to  discuss,  to  receive,  or 
to  reject,  as  the  freest  man  can  wish.  So  it  was  of  old  :  Of 
every  tree  of  the  garden  thou  may est  freely  eat,  said  the  Lord 
to  Adam  :  but  of  the  tree  of  knowledge  of  good  and  evil, 
thou  shalt  not  eat  of  it:  for  in  the  day  that  thou  eatest  there 
of,  thou  sJialt  surely  die  (Gen.  ii.)  Here  was  a  restriction ; 
and  shall  the  descendants  of  Adam  think  it  much  to  be  re 
strained,  where  the  utmost  license  of  thought  could  lead  them 
to  no  certain  knowledge  ?  When  our  first  parents  did  eat, 
we  know  who  told  them  that  their  eyes  should  be  opened, 
and  that  they  should  be  as  Gods,  'knowing  good  and  evil. — 


XXX  INTRODUCTION. 

I  was  not  aware  that  the  exercise  of  private  judgment  had 
been  so  early  recommended.1 

Under  what  misconception,  now,  has  it  been  made  a  sub 
ject  of  reproach  to  Catholics,  that  the  use  of  reason  is  for 
bidden  to  them  ?  I  have  led  the  reader  through  a  series  of 
investigation,  composed  of  fifteen  members;  which  investi 
gation,  it  is  plain,  to  be  completed,  must  be  carried  on  to  a 
much  greater  length.  And  every  Catholic,  whose  circum 
stance  will  allow  it,  and  whose  capacity  will  bear  him 
through,  is  invited  to  pursue  a  similar  inquiry,  from  which 
the  avenues  to  his  faith  will  be  best  secured,  and  himself  be 
always  ready  to  satisfy  every  one  that  asketh  a  reason  of  that 
hope  which  is  in  him.  To  facilitate  this  inquiry,  the  follow 
ing  compilation  has  been  undertaken. — I  will  now  proceed. 

Secondly. — Much  has  been  written  on  the  use  to  be  made 
of  the  Fathers,  and  on  their  authority  in  deciding  contro 
verted  points  of  doctrine.  Their  use — as  far  as  the  subject 
before  us  is  concerned — regards  their  testimony ;  and  may 
be  considered  as  limited  to  their  being  witnesses  to  the  doc 
trines  which  they  had  received.  What  their  characters  may 
be  as  writers  on  general  subjects,  or  what  their  style  of  com 
position,  is  foreign  from  my  plan  to  consider.  I  observe, 
when  they  speak  on  points  of  essential  belief,  that  they  uni 
formly  hold  the  same  language — the  language  of  St.  Paul- 
declaring  that  what  they  received,  that  they  deliver.  They 
give  nothing  new,  speak  of  nothing  new,  but  error ;  and  to 
every  attempt  at  innovation  they  as  uniformly  profess  them 
selves  hostile. 

The  testimony,  then,  of  these  men — not  conspiring  to  the 
maintenance  of  any  preconcerted  purpose  ;  often  separated 
by  distance  of  space  and  time ;  not  speaking  the  same  lan- 

1  This  pretended  right  of  private  judgment  is  called  by  a  modern  writer 
"  the  pride  and  pleasure  of  the  human  mind."  1  recommend  to  the  peru 
sal  of  Catholics  his  work  entitled,  A  Sketch  of  the  Denominations  of  the 
Christian  World,  by  the  Rev.  John  Evans.  In  it  they  will  behold  a  fine 
display  of  the  effects  of  that  prolific  principle;  while  they  learn  to  thank 
heaven  for  the  better  guide  it  has  provided  for  them. 


INTRODUCTION. 


guage,  some  being  Greeks  and  others  Latins—  is  irresistible. 
It  is  not  their  reputation  for  piety,  for  candor,  nor  for  ortho 
doxy,  that  carries  conviction  to  the  mind  of  the  reader  _  for 
the  testimony  of  Tertullian,  when  a  Montanist  heretic,  to  the 
fact  of  his  having  received  such  doctrines,  is  little  less  than 
before  his  defection  —  but  the  simple  circumstance  of  united 
testimony. 

In  the  second  and  third  centuries,  it  will  be  noticed,  the 
authorities  are  less  numerous,  from  the  obvious  reason  that 
fewer  works  on  religion  were  then  written  ;  or  that—  which 
to  us  is  the  same  —  fewer  have  come  down  to  us.     But  it  has 
often  excited  my  surprise,  that  all  our  doctrines  can,  even 
then,   be  so  distinctly  traced,  when  no  opposition  to  their 
truth  called  for  any  direct  testimony.     On  these  occasions, 
however,    that   is,   before    the   subtlety    of    error   made     it 
necessary   to   be   more   accurate,   it   was   very   natural   that 
teachers  of  the  people  and  writers  should  be  more  loose  and 
unguarded  in  their  expressions.     And  so  it  was.     St.  Jerome, 
I  recollect,  remarks,  speaking  of  some  Fathers  who  wrote 
before   the  Arian  controversy,   that  their  words  might  not 
have  been  always  accurate  ;  and  the  same  apology,  on  other 
subjects,  has  been  made  for   Lactantius  and  other  writers. 
They  spoke  without  fear  of  being  misunderstood  ;  using  such 
phrases  as  were  in  common  use.     But  when  that  heresy,  and 
those  rising  from  it—  the  errors  of  Nestorius  and  Eutyches— 
had  made  it  necessary  to  adopt  a  language  of  more  precision, 
writers   of  inferior  talents  and   acquirements  became  more 
guarded  and  more  correct. 

A  man  of  common  candor,  being  aware  of  this,  will  know 
how  to  judge,  as  he  investigates  the  opinions  of  those  early 
days.  Before  any  controversy  had  arisen  on  a  particular 
point  of  doctrine,  he  will  not  look  for  the  same  precision  as 
after  Arius  and  JSTestorius  had  caused  litigation  ;  and  he  will 
be  disposed  to  make  allowances  for  the  case. 

It  may  be  expected  that  I  shall  claim  this  allowance  on  the 
subject  of  Christ's  presence  in  the  Eucharist;  a  point  which, 


xxxii  INTRODUCTION. 

during  the  centuries  of  which  I  am  speaking,  had  experienced 
no  contradiction  :  but  I  shall  not,  with  such  fulness  and  de 
cision  is  the  doctrine  everywhere  announced.  Still,  I  will 
not  deny  that  a  captious  controvertist  may,  on  this  and  other 
points,  extract  some  few  passages,  not  always  so  full  and 
explicit,  which  he  may  think  himself  at  liberty  to  make  use 
of,  should  the  candor  of  his  mind  not  incline  him  to  compare 
passage  with  passage ;  to  explain  what  may  seem  ambiguous 
or  loosely  worded,  by  what  is  clear  and  precise ;  and  to  de 
cide  finally,  not  from  detached  clauses,  but  from  the  united 
evidence  of  those  who,  during  the  period  of  the  century, 
wrote  incidentally  or  purposely  on  the  subject.1 

Having  mentioned  the  subject  of  the  real  presence,  and 
observed  how  full  and  decisive  on  it  are  the  sentiments  of  the 
early  Fathers,  I  may  be  allowed,  perhaps,  to  introduce  the 
analogous  declaration  of  the  great  innovator,  Luther.     He  is 
defending  his  own  opinion  against  those  who— making  use  of 
the  liberty  which  he  had  promulgated,  of  expounding  the 
Scriptures  by  their  own  judgment— denied  the  real  or  cor 
poreal  presence.     "  That  no  one  among  the  Fathers,"  he  says, 
"numerous  as  they  are,  should  have  spoken  of  the  Eucharist 
as   these   men  do,  is  truly  astonishing.     Not   one  of   them 
speaks  thus :  There  is  only  bread  and  wine  ;  or,  the  body  and 
Mood  of  Christ  are  not  present.     And  when  we  reflect  how 
often  the  subject  is  treated  and  repeated  by  them,  it  ceases  to 
be  credible— it  is  not  even  possible— that,  not  so  much  as 
once,  such  words  as  these  should  not  have  dropped  from  some 
of  them.     Surely  it  was  of  moment  that  men  should  not  be 
drawn  into  error.     Still,  they  all  speak  with  such  precision, 
evincing  that  they  entertained  no  doubt  of  the  presence  of 
the  body  and  blood.     Had  not  this  been  their  conviction,  can 
it  be  imagined  that,  among  so  many,  the  negative  opinion 
should  not  have  been  uttered  on  a  single  occasion  ?     On  other 

*  See  the  Discipline  of  the  Secret,  and  elsewhere,  on  the  reserve  occa 
sionally  observed  by  the  Fathers  in  speaking  of  the  mysteries  before 
uninitiated. 


INTRODUCTION.  XXxiii 

points  this  was  not  the  case.  But  our  Sacramentarians,  on 
the  other  hand,  can  proclaim  only  the  negative  or  contrary- 
opinion.  These  men  then,  to  say  all  in  one  word,  have  drawn 
their  notions  neither  from  the  Scriptures  nor  the  Fathers." — 
Defensio  verborwn  Coence,  t.  vii.  p.  391.  Edit.  Wittembergas, 
1557. 

These  authorities  so  chained  his  mind  that  no  effort  could 
release  him.  He  blushes  not  to  add  :  "  This  I  cannot,  nor  am  I 
willing  to  deny,  that  had  any  one,  five  years  ago,  been  able  to 
persuade  me,  that  in  the  .Sacrament  were  only  bread  and  wine, 
he  would  have  laid  me  under  great  obligations  to  him.  In 
the  discussion  of  this  point,  studiously  anxious,  I  labored 
much.  Every  nerve  was  stretched  to  extricate  myself,  if 
possible ;  for  I  was  clearly  sensible,  that  nothing  would  have 
given  so  much  pain  to  the  Roman  bishop.' ' — Ibid.  p.  502. 

This  extraordinary  man  could  show  some  respect  to  the 
Fathers,  when  their  opinions  served  to  strengthen  his  own  ; 
but  when  they  differed,  all  respect  ceased.  Our  Henry  VIII. 
had  entered  the  lists  with  him,  in  defence  of  the  sacrifice  of 
the  Mass ;  the  friar  replied :  "To  establish  this  sacrifice, 
Henry  has  recourse,  at  last,  to  the  words  of  the  Fathers. 
Heaven  well  knows  that  I  care  not  if  a  thousand  Austins,  a 
thousand  Cyprians,  or  a  thousand  other  such,  were  against  me. 
God  cannot  err  and  deceive  :  Austin  and  Cyprian,  and  all  the 
vessels  of  election,  might  and  did  err." — Contra  Regem  Angl. 
t.  ii.  p.  334. 

This  may  pass  with  Luther :  but  the  more  humble  man 
will  ask, "  If  the  testimony  of  the  Fathers  may  be  disregarded, 
by  what  other  means  shall  that  chain  of  evidence  be  sup 
ported,  which,  through  the  lapse  of  ages,  unites  and  has 
united  the  successive  generations  of  believers  in  one  faith 
with  Christ  and  His  Apostles  ?  I  adduce  therefore  with 
pleasure  the  testimony  of  two  divines  of  the  Established 
Church,  whose  least  praise  it  was,  that  they  professed  them 
selves  the  disciples  of  this  inconsistent  reformer. 

Dr.  Cave  thus  speaks  :  "  In  this  are  all  Protestant  divines, 


XXxiv  INTRODUCTION. 

with  few  exceptions,  agreed,  that  the  Scripture  is  the  first  and 
only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  morals ;  and  that  the  next 
place  is  due  to  the  Fathers,  as  far  as  they  accord  with,  and  ap 
prove,  and  confirm,  by  their  testimony,  the  truth  contained  in 
the  Scripture.  We  revere  the  Fathers  ;  not  indeed  as  judges 
of  the  faith,  but  as  witnesses,  who  deliver  to  us  with  fidelity 
what  was  in  every  age  done  and  believed.  They  hand  down 
to  us  the  sacred  deposit  of  faith  ;  and  clearly  point  out  what 
and  when  heresies  rose,  and  the  article  of  faith  which  they 
opposed.  The  more  ancient  those  witnesses,  the  stronger  is 
their  testimony,  and  our  reliance  on  them  the  more  firm. 
Thus  did  those  champions  of  old,  Tertullian,  Augustine,  and 
others,  proceed  in  their  defence  of  the  Christian  Religion— 
unceasingly  appealing  to  their  forefathers — and  among  them 
no  one  has  treated  this  argument  more  successfully  than  Yin- 
cent  of  Lerins,  in  his  Commonitorium  against  Heretics." — 
Ep.  Apolog.  in  Append,  t.  ii.  Hist.  Lit.  p.  68.  Oxonii,  17±3. 
The  same  is  the  language  of  Dr.  Mills,  in  his  dedication  of 
the  works  of  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  to  the  Earl  of  Pembroke 
and  Montgomery  :  "  Although  you  do  not  allow  that  the  au 
thority  of  the  Fathers  is  sufficiently  strong  to  establish  a  new 
dogma  of  faith,  yet  it  is  usual  with  you  to  adduce  them  as 
witnesses  of  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,  and  as  most 
faithful  interpreters  of  the  Word  of  God.  For  since  the 
many  controversies  with  which  the  Church  in  our  days  is 
harassed,  have  arisen  from  the  contending  parties  not  admit 
ting  any  certain  rule  whereby  to  interpret  the  Scripture — 
different  authors  drawing  from  the  same  words  different  and 
absolutely  contrary  meanings — these  contentions  would  be 
happily  terminated,  if  that,  which  was  held  by  the  Church  at 
all  times,  and  in  all  or  most  places,  were  on  both  sides  ad 
mitted  as  true,  certain,  and  indisputable.  And  I  myself  have 
heard  you  reject,  not  without  indignation,  the  Scriptural  in 
terpretations  adduced  by  the  Arians  and  Socinians,  for  no 
other  reason  than  because  they  are  most  remote  from  the 
sense  of  the  Fathers." 


INTRODUCTION.  XXXV 

It  is  proper  to  add  that  many  of  these  Fathers,  to  whose 
testimony  we  have  recourse,  were  themselves  bishops  of  the 
churches  which  the  Apostles  had  founded  ;  to  which  churches 
an  appeal  was  always  made  against  the  heretics,  in  favor  of 
the  true  doctrine.  "What  the  Apostles  taught,"  observes 
Tertullian,  "  that  is,  what  Christ  revealed  to  them,  can  best 
be  learned  from  those  churches  which  the  Apostles  founded?1 
He  then  adds :  "  All  doctrine  that  agrees  with  the  faith  of 
those  original  and  mother  churches,  is  to  be  deemed  true ;  all 
other  is  false  ;  not  coming  from  the  Apostles,  nor  from  Christ, 
nor  from  God."  This  he  repeats,  and  the  same,  as  will  be 
seen,  is  repeated  by  others.  If  then  the  authority  of  these 
churches  be  such,  such  must  be  the  authority  of  their  teach 
ers  ;  not  only  when  they  preached  the  doctrine  which  they 
had  received,  and  their  churches  preserved ;  but  likewise  when 
they  committed  the  same  to  writing,  and  attested  its  truth. 
I  could  here  give  a  list  of  those  Fathers  who  presided  over 
those  apostolic  churches ;  but  the  reader  will  notice  them  as 
he  goes  on,  and  the  attention  to  it  will  give  him  pleasure. 

Thirdly. — On  some  occasions  I  have  introduced  the  autho 
rity  of  councils.  Always  I  could  not ;  because  councils  had 
not  always  spoken.  When  they  do,  their  voice,  in  our  opin 
ion,  is  most  decisive.  They  form  the  representative  body  of 
the  universal  Church.  Yet  councils,  whether  general  or  na 
tional,  or  provincial,  in  their  decisions,  proceed  on  the  com 
mon  principle  that  guides  individually  the  pastors  of  the 
Church.  Having  inquired,  on  the  controverted  point  which 
has  called  them  together — by  turning  to  the  annals  of  former 
times — what  was  then  taught,  as  confirmed  by  the  Scriptures 
and  the  testimony  of  the  Fathers ;  and  having  declared  what 
they  themselves,  the  pastors  of  the  faithful,  and  the  guardians 
of  the  deposit  of  faith,  have  received ;  they  pronounce  that 
to  be  error  which  is  not  conformable  to  the  truth  thus  au 
thenticated  ;  and  by  a  new  definition,  if  judged  necessary,  re 
confirm  this  truth.  To  remove  ambiguity  it  may  sometimes 
appear  expedient  to  adopt  a  new  term,  as  was  done  at  Nice, 


XXXVI  INTRODUCTION. 

when  the  word  consubstantlal,  against  the  error  of  Arms,  was 
received  into  the  Creed.  But  nothing  new  in  the  doctrine 
is  thereby  announced;  a  more  explicit  profession  alone  is 
brought  forward,  or,  as  it  has  been  well  expressed,  "  in  con 
sequence  of  the  sophistries  of  error,  a  clearness  and  accuracy 
are  adopted,  which  the  contested  article,  while  uncontested, 
did  not  stand  in  need  of." 

In  Councils  then  is  a  greater  solemnity,  when  the  Pastors 
of  the  Church,  with  an  united  voice,  proclaim  what  is  the 
doctrine  that  has  been  transmitted  to  them.  This  they  did 
in  the  first  general  synod,  held  at  Nice,  against  the  errors  of 
Arius;  and  the  same  process  was  followed  at  Trent,  at  a 
much  more  recent  period,  when  the  innovating  spirit  of  the 
times  called  for  a  like  interference.  But — let  me  repeat  it — 
the  same  principle,  on  all  points  of  faith,  directs  the  proceed 
ings  of  Councils,  that  is  the  guide  to  each  individual  prelate, 
in  instructing  the  flock  committed  to  his  charge :  What  I 
have  received,  that  I  deliver  to  you. — Discipline,  which  is 
subject  to  the  alterations  of  time  and  place,  allows  other 
modes  of  proceeding. 

Fourthly. — I  have  not  failed,  under  each  name,  to  notice 
whether  the  Father  was  of  the  Greek  or  the  Latin  Church ; 
a  circumstance  to  which  I  advise  the  reader  to  attend.  Dur 
ing  these  five  centuries,  indeed,  and  long  after,  there  was  not 
a  shade  of  difference — as  their  expressions  will  evince — in  the 
sentiments  of  the  two  Churches,  on  any  single  article  of  be 
lief.  All  were  Catholics,  and  so — a  few  points  excepted— 
have  the  Greeks  continued  down  to  the  present  day.  In  the 
ninth  century  the  schism  began;  and  has  never  since  been 
completely  closed ;  the  points  of  disunion  principally  being— 
the  primacy  of  the  Roman  Bishop  over  all  the  Churches ;  the 
addition  made  to  the  Creed  of  Constantinople,  usually  called 
the  JSTicene  Creed,  concerning  the  procession  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  from  the  Son ;  and  the  use  of  unleavened  bread,  at 
the  altar,  by  the  Latins.  The  ambition  of  Photius,  the  learned 
Patriarch  of  the  imperial  city  of  Constantinople,  first  fomented 


INTRODUCTION.  XXXV11 

the  quarrel,  which  much  of  the  same  spirit,  I  fear,  has  since 
upheld. 

Owing  to  this  schism  it  has  been,  that  many  persons,  not 
attentive  to  dates,  but  attentive  to  the  present  difference  of 
opinions,  have  incautiously  fancied  that  the  Greek  and  Latin 
Churches  at  no  time  thought  alike ;  and  that  the  points  on 
which  they  differ  are  many,  and  not  the  few  which  I  have 
mentioned.  To  obviate  this  mistake  on  the  first  head,  I 
wished  the  reader  regularly  to  notice,  as  he  passes  from  cen 
tury  to  century,  and  from  Father  to  Father,  with  what  uni 
formity  they  utter  the  same  sentiments,  whether  members  of 
the  Greek  or  the  Latin  rite. 

This  unity  of  belief,  so  observable  in  the  early  centuries, 
which  must  be  viewed  as  an  essential  mark  of  the  Church  of 
Christ,  as  it  rests  on  the  immutable  nature  of  truth,  and  is 
secured  in  its  perpetuity  by  the  means  so  often  stated,  must, 
if  we  reasoned  only  from  moral  probabilities,  ever  continue. 
The  public  mind,  it  will  be  admitted,  has  been  often  agitated, 
and  often  divided  by  discordant  opinions,  arising  from  the 
disputes  of  theologians,  on  a  variety  of  subjects  ;  though  oft- 
ener  such  disputes — at  least,  among  us  in  the  west — gained 
not  the  ear  of  the  multitude.  As  far  as  it  went,  this  was 
an  evil ;  but  it  is  an  evil  inseparable  from  that  liberty  of 
thought  and  speech,  which  should  not  and  cannot  be  abridged. 
But  in  the  heat  of  the  warmest  altercations,  no  discordance 
was  at  any  time  discoverable  on  the  points  of  general  belief, 
and  the  authority  connected  with  them.  This  fact  is  deserv 
ing  of  notice,  and  must  appear  more  so,  when,  through  the 
progress  of  thirteen  centuries,  which  followed  the  times  of 
which  I  have  spoken,  we  contemplate  the  earlier  events  only 
— that  is,  the  state  of  the  European  kingdoms,  invaded  and 
occupied  by  barbarous  nations ;  the  monuments  of  ancient 
days,  in  literature  and  in  arts,  destroyed ;  the  venerable  lan 
guage  of  Home  merging  in  foreign  dialects ;  and — but  the 
picture  by  too  many  writers  is  too  deeply  colored — the  whole 
face  of  the  moral  world  disfigured  by  ignorance,  superstition, 


XXX\ail  INTRODUCTION. 

arid  base  credulity.  In  the  east,  from  the  wider  spread  of 
heresies,  and  the  portentous  conquests  of  Mahomet  and  his 
followers,  the  case  was  worse.  Yet  the  faith  of  the  Jeromes 
and  the  Chrysostoms  was  not  affected :  the  number  of  its 
professors  was  curtailed ;  but  wherever  that  faith  was,  there 
it  was  one  and  entire.  Surely  the  hand  of  that  Being  which 
promised  to  be  with  His  Church  to  the  end  of  the  world,  is 
in  this  visible ;  protecting  and  upholding  what  I  called  the 
work  of  His  mercy. 

To  the  other  moral  causes  of  the  perpetuity  of  Faith,  must 
likewise  be  added,  in  the  west,  the  vigilant  superintendence 
of  the  Roman  bishop  ;  which  vigilance,  as,  in  the  darker  ages, 
it  became  more  necessary,  was  more  active  ;  while  his  chair, 
with  which  all  churches  held  an  intercourse,  served  through 
out  as  a  centre  of  union  to  all.  Let  me  also  add,  as  another 
preservative  cause  of  unity  in  faith,  the  continued  prevalence 
of  the  Latin  language  in  the  public  service  of  the  Church. 
And  the  culture  of  this  language,  and  also  that  of  Greece, 
while  it  prepared  the  Christian  minister  for  the  discharge  of 
his  public  functions,  preserved  them  both  from  extinction ; 
tended  to  give  some  relish  for  the  learning  of  former  days, 
and  witli  it  an  anxiety  not  to  let  perish  the  choicest  monu 
ments  of  that  learning  ;  and,  should  a  better  era  arise,  it  would 
be  at  hand  to  aid  the  reviving  cause  of  letters. 

The  sum  of  these  observations,  which  I  am  compelled  to 
close,  may  be  comprised  in  a  few  words.  We  believe  that  all 
the  points  of  our  Faith — contained  in  the  series  of  the  suc 
ceeding  Propositions — as  likewise  such  other  points  as  are 
common  to  us  and  other  Christian  societies,  were  originally 
taught  by  Christ,  and  by  Him  communicated  to  His  Apostles, 
to  whom  He  gave  a  commission  to  go  and  teach  the  same  to 
all  nations ;  promising,  at  the  same  time,  that  He  would  be 
with  them  to  the  end  of  the  world.  This  body  of  divine 
truths,  those  Apostles,  we  believe,  delivered,  pure  and  un 
altered,  as  they  had  received  them,  to  the  nations  which  they 
converted,  and  to  those  men  particularly  whom  they  ap- 


INTRODUCTION.  XXxix 

pointed  to  be  their  successors  in  the  ministry.  The  form  of 
teaching  ordained  by  Christ  was  thus  established.  But  as 
daily  in  the  progress  of  time — let  us  say,  by  the  end  of  the 
first  century — men  began  to  recede  further  from  the  days  of 
Christ  and  His  Apostles,  a  necessity  arose,  that  every  preacher 
of  the  Christian  doctrine  should  prove  to  his  hearers  that  the 
points  which  he  delivered  as  divine  truths  were  really  such  ; 
that  is,  that  they  were  those  which  Christ  and  His  Apostles 
had  taught.  His  own  word,  it  is  plain,  could  not  here  suffice. 
He  has  recourse,  therefore,  to  the  aid  of  testimony :  to  the 
testimony  of  those  who  had  conversed  with  the  Apostles,  and 
had  been  instructed  by  them,  could  any  such  be  found ;  or  to 
such  documents  as  they  might  have  left ;  and  he  has  recourse, 
with  peculiar  confidence,  to  those  writings  which  now  began 
to  be  circulated,  and  were  received  as  authentic  in  the  churches. 
These  writings  we  call  the  books  of  the  New  Testament,  which 
were  then  carefully  preserved ;  and  in  their  integrity  have 
been  transmitted  to  us. 

Thus  is  the  use  of  these  Scriptures  at  once  made  manifest ; 
and,  as  time  goes  on,  their  use  in  the  same  sense  remains  ; 
while  to  them,  as  an  additional  testimony,  continue  to  be 
superadded  the  works  of  the  Fathers.  These  attest,  century 
after  century,  what  are  the  points  of  Faith  which  were  re 
ceived,  and  were  delivered.  Through  this  channel,  then,  as 
St.  Paul  expresses  it,  of  receiving  and  delivering,  all  the 
truths  taught  by  our  Saviour  Christ  are  transmitted  to  us 
in  an  uninterrupted  series,  by  the  pastors  of  the  Church ; 
which  truths  the  Scriptures  confirm ;  while  the  writings  of 
the  Fathers  accompany  and  attest  the  legitimacy  of  their 
descent. 

The  following  passage  from  Bossuet  will  enrich  this  im 
perfect  disquisition.  Reasoning  with  the  Calvinistic  minister, 
Claude,  in  a  beautiful  strain  of  eloquence,  he  thus  proceeds : 
"  There  was  no  time  when  a  visible  and  speaking  authority 
did  not  exist,  to  which  submission  was  due.  Before  Jesus 
Christ,  that  authority,  among  the  Jews,  was  in  the  Synagogue  : 


xl  INTRODUCTION. 

when  the  Synagogue  was  on  the  point  of  failing,  Jesus  Christ 
Himself  appeared  ;  when  this  divine  personage  withdrew,  He 
left  a  Church,  and  with  it  His  Holy  Spirit.  Tell  me  that  Jesus 
Christ  once  more  appears  upon  earth,  teaching,  preaching,  and 
working  miracles,  I  want  this  Church  no  longer.  But  if  you 
take  her  from  me,  again  I  must  have  Jesus  Christ  in  per 
son,  speaking,  instructing,  deciding  by  miracles  and  with 
an  unerring  authority.  But  has  He  not  left,  you  say,  His 
written  word  ?  He  has  ;  a  word  holy  and  adorable  ;  but  it  is 
a  word  that  may  be  handled  and  expounded  as  fancy  shall 
direct ;  a  word  that  remains  silent  under  every  interpretation. 
When  difficulties  and  doubts  arise,  then,  1  must  have  some  ex 
ternal  guide  that  shall  solve  those  difficulties,  and  satisfy  my 
doubts  ;  and  that  guide  must  be  unerring."— Conference  avec 
M.  Claude,  p.  129. 

I  will  close  with  the  character  of  a  Catholic,  as  drawn,  in 
the  fifth  century,  by  Vincent  of  Lerins,  of  whom  I  hereafter 
speak :  "  He  is  a  true  and  genuine  Catholic,  who  loves  the 
truth  of  God,  His  Church,  and  its  members ;  who  to  his  re 
ligion  and  his  faith  prefers  nothing— not  the  authority  of  any 
man,  not  wit,  not  eloquence,  not  philosophy  :  but  who,  looking 
down  upon  these  things,  and  firmly  fixed  in  his  belief,  re 
solves  to  admit,  and  to  adhere  only  to  that  which  from  ancient 
times  he  knows  to  have  been  universally  received."—  Com- 
monit.  c.  xx.  p.  346. 

In  necessariisunitas,in  duUis  Liberia^  in  omnibus  char  Has. 


THE 


FAITH  OF  CATHOLICS, 


ETC.,    ETC. 


THE  RULE  OF  FAITH. 

All  that,  and  that  only,  is  of  Catholic  Faith  which  God 
has  revealed,  and  the  Church  proposes  to  the  belief  of  all.1 


FOR  any  doctrine  to  be  of  Catholic  Faith,  two  things  are 
necessary :  first,  that  it  be  revealed ;  second,  that  it  be  pro 
posed  by  the  Church.  Of  which  two  conditions,  if  either 
be  wanting,  such  doctrine  is  not  of  Catholic  Faith.  The 
second  condition  presupposes  the  first ;  for  as  the  Apostles 
were  commissioned  to  teach  only  such  truths  as  they  had 
received  from  Christ,  that  is,  what  He  had  revealed  to  them ; 
so  their  successors  in  the  ministry,  by  virtue  of  the  same 
commission,  and  under  the  direction  of  the  same  Divine 
Spirit,  continued  to  teach  the  same.  It  is  by  the  touchstone 
of  this  Rule  that  we  wish  each  article  of  our  faith  to  be 
proved;  and,  consequently,  the  doctrines  contained  in  the 
following  propositions. 

1  See  Veron,    de  Regula  Fidei  Catholicce,  translated  by  the  Rev.  J. 
Waterworth,  Birmingham,  1833. 


JUSTIFICATION 


PAHT   I. 


JUSTIFICATION  THROUGH  CHRIST,  AND  THE 
MERIT    OF    GOOD    WORKS. 


PROPOSITION    I. 


When  man  has  sinned,  the  remission  or  pardon  of  sin  is 
not  attainable  ly  him,  otherwise  than  in  and  by  the  merits 
of  the  sufferings  and  death  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  freely  pur 
chased  our  ransom. 


SCRIPTURE. 

.'  c.  iii.  v.  23,  24,  25.  "  For  all  have  sinned ;  and  do 
need  the  glory  of  God.  Being  justified  freely  by  His  grace, 
through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus,  whom  God 
hath  proposed  to  be  a  propitiation  through  faith  in  His 
blood." 

1  Cor.  vi.  20.     4k  For  you  are  bought  with  a  great  price." 

Ephes.  i.  7.  ''  In  whom  we  have  redemption  through  His 
blood,  the  remission  of  sins,  according  to  the  riches  of  His 
grace." 

Coloss.  i.  14.  "  In  whom  we  have  redemption  through  His 
blood,  the  remission  of  sins."  ii.  14.  "  Blotting  out  the 
handwriting  of  the  decree  that  was  against  us." 

1  Tim.  ii.  5,  6.  "  For  there  is  one  God,  and  one  Mediator 
of  God  and  men,  the  man  Christ  Jesus,  who  gave  Himself  a 
redemption  for  all." 

1  St.  Paul,  of  a  persecutor,  became  an  Apostle  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  the 
year  34.  He  was  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  and  city  of  Tarsus,  in  Cilicia. 
He  wrote  fourteen  epistles,  which  he  addressed  to  the  Thessalonians,  the 
Galatians,  the  Corinthians,  the  Romans,  the  Ephesians,  the  Philippians, 
the  Colossians,  the  Hebrews,  Philemon,  Timothy,  and  Titus.  He  suffered 
martyrdom  at  Rome,  about  the  year  66. 


THROUGH  CHRIST.  3 

1  John1  ii.  1,  2.  "  But  if  any  man  sin,  we  have  an  Advo 
cate  with  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  just :  and  He  is  the 
propitiation  for  our  sins ;  and  not  for  ours  only,  but  also  for 
those  of  the  whole  world." 


PROPOSITION   II. 

It  is  only  through  the  same  merits  of  Jesus  Christ,  that 
the  just  man  can  obtain  either  an  increase  of  holiness  in 
this  life,  or  eternal  happiness  in  the  next. 


SCRIPTURE. 

John  xv.  5.  "  He  that  abideth  in  me,  and  I  in  him,  the 
same  beareth  much  fruit :  for  without  me  you  can  do 
nothing." 

Rom.  v.  9,  10.  "  Christ  died  for  us  ;  much  more,  there 
fore,  being  now  justified  by  His  blood,  shall  we  be  saved 
from  wrath  through  Him.  For  if,  when  we  were  enemies, 
we  were  reconciled  to  God  by  the  death  of  His  Son,  much 
more,  being  reconciled,  we  shall  be  saved  by  His  life." 

Ephes.  ii.  8,  9.  "  For  by  grace  you  are  saved  through 
faith,  and  that  not  of  yourselves,  for  it  is  the  gift  of  God, 
and  not  of  works,  that  no  man  may  glory." 

Tit.  iii.  7.  "  That  being  justified  by  His  grace,  we  may  be 
heirs,  according  to  hope,  of  life  everlasting." 


PROPOSITION    III. 

The  good  works  of  a  just  man,  proceeding  from  grace  and 
charity,  are  so  far  acceptable  to  God,  through  His  goodness 
and  sacred  promises,  as  to  be  truly  deserving  of  an  eternal 
reward ;  "  God  crowning  His  own  gifts,  when  He  crowns  the 
good  works  of  His  servants." 

1  St.  John  was  the  son  of  Zebedee,  and  the  beloved  disciple  of  Jesus 
Christ.  He  wrote  his  Apocalypse,  or  book  of  Revelations,  in  the  year  95  ; 
and  his  gospel,  not  before  the  year  97, — that  is,  not  before  the  Gospel  had 
been  preached  and  delivered  by  the  Apostles  for  the  space  of  forty-four 
years.  He  wrote  also  three  epistles,  and  died  at  Ephesus,  in  the  year  100, 
or  101. 


4  JUSTIFICATION 

SCRIPTURE. 

Matthew?  x.  42.  "  And  whosoever  shall  give  to  drink  to 
one  of  these  little  ones  a  cup  of  cold  water  only,  in  the 
name  of  a  disciple,  amen  I  say  to  you,  he  shall  not  lose  his 
reward."  Ib.  xvi.  27.  "  For  the  Son  of  man  shall  come  in 
the  glory  of  His  Father,  with  His  angels :  and  then  He  will 
render  to  every  man  according  to  his  works."  Ib.  xxv.  34, 
35.  "  Then  shall  the  King  say  to  them  that  shall  be  on  His 
right  hand  :  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  possess  the  king 
dom  prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world  : 
for  I  was  hungry,  and  you  gave  me  to  eat." 

1  Cor.  ix.  24,  25.     u  Know  you  not,  that  they  that  run  in 
the  race,  all  run  indeed,  but  one  receiveth  the  prize  ?     So  run 
that  ye  may  obtain.     And  every  one  that  striveth  for  the 
mastery  refraineth  himself  from  all  things ;  they,  indeed,  that 
they  may  receive  a  corruptible  crown,  but  we  an  incorruptible 
one." 

2  Cor.  iv.  17.     "  For  that  which  is  at  present  momentary 
and  light  of  our  tribulation,  worketh  for  us  above  measure 
exceedingly  an  eternal  weight  of  glory."     Ib.  v.  10.     "  For 
we    must    all   be   manifested   before   the   judgment   seat   of 
Christ,  that  every  one  may  receive  the  proper  things  of  the 
body,  according  as  he  hath  done,  whether  it  be  good  or  evil." 

2  Tim.  iv.  8.  "  As  to  the  rest,  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a 
crown  of  justice,  which  the  Lord,  the  just  judge,  will  render 
to  me  in  that  day ;  and  not  to  me  only,  but  to  them  also  that 
love  His  coming." 

Ileb.  vi.  10.  "  For  God  is  not  unjust,  that  He  should  for 
get  your  work,  and  the  love  which  you  have  shewn  in  His 
name,  you  who  have  ministered,  and  do  minister  to  the 
saints." 


1  St.  Matthew,  of  a  publican,  became  an  Apostle  of  Jesus  Christ.  He 
was  the  first  who  committed  to  writing  an  account  of  our  Saviour's  life. 
His  gospel  was  probably  written  in  the  language  of  his  country,  that  is,  the 
Syro-Chaldaic  ;  the  time  is  uncertain.  Some  think  about  the  year  39  ;  Dr. 
Lardner,  about  the  year  64. 


THROUGH  CHRIST.  5 

James1  ii.  14,  17,  26.  "  What  shall  it  profit,  my  brethren, 
if  a  man  say  he  hath  faith,  but  hath  not  works  ?  Shall  faith 
be  able  to  save  him  ? — So,  faith,  also,  if  it  hath  not  works,  is 
dead  in  itself. — For  even  as  the  body,  without  the  spirit,  is 
dead :  so  also  faith  without  works  is  dead." 

2  Peter*  i.  10.  "  Wherefore,  brethren,  labor  the  more,  that 
by  good  works  you  may  make  sure  your  calling  and  election." 

As  the  doctrine  of  these  three  propositions  is  very  generally 
admitted, — and  all  controversy  on  the  subject,  in  regard  to 
the  belief  of  Catholics,  has  in  a  great  measure  ceased, — I  shall 
not  insert  the  passages  from  the  early  Fathers,  which  I  had 
prepared,  and  which,  agreeably  to  my  plan,  should  be  here  in 
troduced,  to  show  that,  as  what  our  Church  teaches  is  con- 
firmed  by  the  Scriptures,  so  is  its  descent  from  the  Apostles 
also,  attested  by  the  writings  of  the  ancient  Fathers.  On 
man's  justification  through  Christ,  they  are  particularly  full. 
But  I  must  not  omit,  on  this  head,  the  declarations  of  the 
Council  of  Trent,  which  I  wish  the  reader  to  compare  with 
the  words  of  the  Propositions. 


"  Though  no  man  can  be  just,  but  he  to  whom  the  merits  of 
the  passion  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  are  communicated,  yet 
this  is  done  in  the  justification  of  the  sinner,  when,  by  the 

1  St.  James  was  the  brother  of  St.  Jude,  and  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  which 
church  he  governed  twenty-nine  years.  He  has  left  us  one  epistle. 

9  St.  Peter  was  the  son  of  Jona,  and  the  chief  of  the  Apostles.  He  wrote 
two  epistles  to  the  Jewish  converts,  who  were  dispersed  over  Asia  Minor  ; 
the  first  about  the  year  50,  and  the  second  a  little  before  his  death.  Hav 
ing  governed  the  church  at  Antioch  for  some  years,  he  established  his  apos 
tolic  chair  at  Rome,  where  he  suffered  martyrdom  about  the  year  66. 

3  This  council,  which  opened  in  1545,  and  closed  in  1563,  was  convened 
against  the  errors  of,  Luther  and  other  innovators,  and  for  the  reform  of 
abuses  ;  and  as  it  is  the  last  general  one  that  has  been  held,  and  its  de 
cisions  on  doctrinal  points  are  universally  admitted  by  the  Latin  Church, — 
those  decisions  may  be  considered  as  forming  a  complete  statement  of  the 
doctrines  which  the  prelates,  assembled  at  Trent,  had  received  from  their 
predecessors.  On  the  subject  of  justification  they  say  : — "This  holy  Synod 
means  to  expound  to  all  the  faithful  of  Christ  the  true  and  sound  doctrine, 


6  JUSTIFICATION 

merit  of  that  most  holy  passion,  the  charity  of  God  is  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  infused  into  the  hearts  of  those  who  are  justified, 
and  is  inherent  therein  ;  whence,  in  justification  itself,  together 
with  the  remission  of  sins,  man  receives,  through  Jesus 
Christ  into  whom  he  is  implanted,  all  these  infused  together, 
faith,  hope,  and  charity."  Seas.  vi.  c.  7,  p.  30.  "  Wherefore,  to 
them  who  do  well  unto  the  end,  and  who  hope  in  God,  eternal 
life  is  to  be  proposed ;  both  as  a  grace  which  is  mercifully 
promised  to  the  sons  of  God  through  Jesus  Christ,  and  as  a 
recompense  to  be  faithfully  rendered,  through  the  promise  of 
God  Himself,  to  their  good  works  and  merits. — And  as  Jesus 
Christ  perpetually  sheds  His  influence  on  those  who  are  justi 
fied,  which  influence  ever  precedes  and  accompanies,  and  fol 
lows,  their  good  works,  and  without  which  they  could  in  no 
wise  be  meritorious  and  pleasing  to  God,  we  must  believe  that 
nothing  more  is  wanting  to  the  justified,  to  prevent  their  being 
accounted  to  have  fully  satisfied,  by  those  very  works  which 
have  been  done  in  God,  the  divine  law  as  to  their  state  in  this 
life,  and  to  have  truly  merited  eternal  life,  to  be  obtained  in 
its  due  time,  if  so  be,  however,  that  they  depart  in  grace. 
Neither  is  this  to  be  omitted, — that  although,  in  the  sacred 
Scriptures,  so  much  be  so  absolutely  attributed  to  good  works, 
that  Christ  promises  that  even  he  that  shall  give  a  drink  of 
cold  water  to  one  of  His  little  ones  shall  not  be  without  his  re 
ward,  and  that  the  Apostle  testifies  that,  what  is  but  a  light 
and  momentary  tribulation  here,  works  in  us  an  exceeding 
weight  of  glory  in  heaven,  nevertheless,  God  forbid  that 
a  Christian  should  either  trust  or  glory  in  himself,  and  not  in 
the  Lord,  whose  bounty  is  so  great  towards  all  men,  that  He 
will  have  the  things  which  are  His  gifts  to  be  their  merits."— 
11.  c.  16. 


which  Christ,  the  author  of  our  faith,  taught,  which  the  Apostles  delivered, 
and  which  the  Catholic  Church,  guided  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  has  ever  re 
tained."—  Sess.  vi.  Procem.  p.  24,  Edit.  Antwerpice,  1640. 


THROUGH  CHRIST. 


FAITH  IN  CHRIST:  ITS  OBJECT  AND 
CHARACTER. 


PROPOSITION    IV. 

The  merits  of  Jesus  Christ,  though  infinite  in  themselves, 
are  not  applied  to  us,  without  a  right  faith  in  Him  ;  which 
faith  is  one,  entire,  and  conformable  to  its  object ;  which  ob 
ject  is  Divine  Revelation,  that  is,  the  truths  taught  by  Christ; 
and  to  that  revelation,  or  to  those  truths,  Faith  gives  an  un- 
doubting  assent. 

SCRIPTURE. 

Mark1  xvi.  15,  16.  "  Go  ye  into  the  whole  world,  and 
preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature.  He  that  believeth,  and 
is  baptized,  shall  be  saved :  but  he  that  believeth  not,  shall  be 
condemned." 

Acts  2  iv.  12.  "  Neither  is  there  salvation  in  any  other.  For 
there  is  no  other  name  under  heaven  given  to  men,  whereby 
we  must  be  saved." 

Rom.  iii.  22.  "  Even  the  justice  of  God,  by  faith  of  Jesus 
Christ,  unto  all  and  upon  all  them  that  believe  in  Him."  11. 
x.  8,  9.  "  This  is  the  word  of  faith  which  we  preach :  that  if 
thou  confess  with  thy  mouth  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  believe  in 
thy  heart  that  God  hath  raised  Him  up  from  the  dead,  thou 
shalt  be  saved." 

Heb.  xi.  6.  "  But  without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please 
God  :  for  he  that  cometh  to  God,  must  believe  that  He  is,  and 
is  a  re  warder  to  them  that  seek  Him." 

1  St.  Mark  was  the  disciple  of  St.  Peter,  and  the  founder  of  the  church 
of  Alexandria.     It  is  generally  believed  that  he  wrote  his  gospel  at  Rome, 
under  the  eye  of  St.  Peter,  and  about  the  year  45,  if  not  later. 

2  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  which  contain  the  history  of  the  Church  for 
about  thirty  years  from  the  ascension  of  Christ,  were  probably  written  by  St. 
Luke,  the  companion  of  St.  Paul,  about  the  year  63.      His  gospel  was  writ 
ten  a  few  years  sooner. 


8  DIVINE  REVELATION. 

COUNCIL    OF    TRENT. 

"  When  the  Apostle  says  that  man  is  justified  by  faith,  and 
gratuitously,  those  words  are  to  be  understood  in  that  sense 
which  the  perpetual  consent  of  the  Catholic  Church  has  held 
and  expressed ;  to  wit,  that  we  are  therefore  said  to  be  justi 
fied  by  faith,  because  faith  is  the  beginning  of  man's  salva 
tion,  the  foundation  and  root  of  all  justification ;  without 
which  (faith)  it  is  impossible  to  please  God." — Sess.  vi.  c.  viii. 


DIVINE  REVELATION. 


PROPOSITION    V. 

The  Divine  Revelation  contains  many  mysterious  doc 
trines,  surpassing  the  natural  reach  of  the  human  under 
standing :  for  which  reason,  it  became  the  wisdom  and  good 
ness  of  God  to  provide  some  way  or  means  whereby  man 
might  be  enabled  to  Learn  what  those  mysterious  doctrines  are 
— means  apparent  to  all;  proportioned  to  the  capacities  of  all  ; 
and  sure  and  certain  to  all. 

SCRIPTURE. 

Matt.  xi.  25,  26.  "  At  that  time  Jesus  answered  and  said :  I 
confess  to  Thee,  O  Father,  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  because 
Thou  hast  hid  these  things  from  the  wise  and  prudent,  and 
hast  revealed  them  to  little  ones.  Yea,  Father,  for  so  hath  it 
seemed  good  in  Thy  sight."  Ibid.  xvi.  17.  "  And  Jesus  an 
swering,  said  unto  him :  Blessed  art  thou,  Simon  Bar-jona : 
because  flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed  it  to  thee,  but  my 
Father  who  is  in  heaven." 

John  xv.  22.  "  If  I  had  not  come,  and  spoken  to  them,  they 
would  not  have  sin  :  but  now  they  have  no  excuse  for  their 
sin." 

1  Cor.  i.  27.  "But  the  foolish  things  of  the  world  hath 
God  chosen,  that  He  may  confound  the  wise ;  and  the  weak 


AUTHORITY    OF  THE  CHURCH.  9 

things  of  the  world  hath  God  chosen,  that  He  may  confound 
the  strong."  Ib.  ii.  12,  13.  "  Now  we  have  received,  not  the 
spirit  of  this  world,  but  the  spirit  that  is  of  God :  that  we 
may  know  the  things  that  are  given  us  from  God :  which 
things  also  we  speak,  not  in  the  learned  words  of  human  wis 
dom  ;  but  in  the  doctrine  of  the  spirit,  comparing  spiritual 
things  with  spiritual." 

Eph.  iv.  11,  14.  "  And  he  gave  some  Apostles,  and  some 
Prophets,  and  other  some  Evangelists,  and  other  some  Pastors 
and  Doctors.  That  henceforth  we  be  no  more  children,  tossed 
to  and  fro,  and  carried  about  with  every  wind  of  doctrine,  by 
the  wickedness  of  men,  by  cunning  craftiness,  by  which  they 
lie  in  wait  to  deceive." 


THE  AUTHORITY  AND  MARKS  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


PROPOSITION    VI. 


The  way  or  means  by  which  to  arrive  at  the  knowledge  of 
the  divine  truths,  is  attention  and  submission  to  the  voice  of 
the  Pastors  of  the  Church :  a  Church  established  by  Christ 
for  the  instruction  of  all  /  spread  for  that  end  through  aU 
nations ;  visibly  continued  in  the  succession  of  Pastors  and 
people  through  all  ages.  Whence  the  marks  of  this  Church 
are,  Unity,  Visibility,  Indefectibility,  Succession  from  the 
Apostles,  Universality  and  Sanctity. 


THE  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


SCRIPTURE. 

Matt.  xvi.  18.  "  And  I  say  to  thee,  that  thon  art  Peter;  and 
upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  Church,  and  the  gates  of  hell 
shall  not  prevail  against  it." 

Matt,  xviii.  17.  "  And  if  he  will  not  hear  them,  tell  the 


10  AUTHORITY 

Church.     And  if  he  will  not  hear  the  Church,  let  him  be  to 
thee  as  the  heathen  and  publican." 

Matt,  xxviii.  18-20.  "  And  Jesus  coming,  spoke  to  them, 
saying :  All  power  is  given  to  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth. 
Going  therefore  teach  ye  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost ; 
teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  com 
manded  you :  And  behold,  I  am  with  you  all  days,  even  to  the 
consummation  of  the  world." 

Mark  xvi.  15.  "  And  He  said  to  them :  Go  ye  into  the  whole 
world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature." 

Luke  x.  16.  "  He  that  heareth  you,  heareth  me  ;  and  he  that 
despisethyou,  despiseth  me  ;  and  he  that  despiseth  me,  despiseth 
Him  that  sent  me." 

John  xiv.  16-18.  "  And  I  will  ask  the  Father,  and  He  shall 
give  you  another  Paraclete,  that  He  may  abide  with  you  for 
ever,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  whom  the  world  cannot  receive, 
because  it  seeth  Him  not,  nor  knoweth  Him ;  but  you  shall  know 
Him,  because  He  shall  abide  with  you,  and  shall  be  in  you.  I 
will  not  leave  you  orphans ;  I  will  come  to  you." 

John  xvi.  13.  "  But  when  He,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  is  come, 
He  will  teach  you  all  truth.1  For  He  shall  not  speak  of  Him 
self  :  but  what  things  soever  He  shall  hear,  He  shall  speak  ;  and 
the  things  that  are  to  come  He  will  show  you." 

Acts  xv.  28, 41.  "  For  it  hath  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost 
and  to  us,  to  lay  no  farther  burden  upon  you  than  these  neces 
sary  things.  And  he  (Paul)  went  through  Syria  and  Cilicia, 
confirming  the  churches  :  commanding  them  to  keep  the  pre 
cepts  of  the  Apostles  and  ancients."  See  also  ib.  xvi.  4. 

Acts  xx.  28.  "  Take  heed  to  yourselves  and  to  the  whole  flock, 
wherein  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  placed  you  bishops,  to  rule'  the 
Church  of  God,  which  He  hath  purchased  with  His  own  blood." 

1  Cor.  xii.  28,  29.  "  And  God  indeed  hath  set  some  in  the 

1  tO8r}yrf6ai  vyat  efc  natfar  rrjv  d\^eiavt  he  will  guide  you  into 
all  the  truth. 

5  notjuairetr,  to  feed,  or  rule. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  11 

Church,  first  Apostles,  secondly  Prophets,  thirdly  Doctors: 
are  all  Apostles  ?  are  all  Prophets  ?  are  all  Doctors  ? " 

Ephes.  iv.  11-14.  "  And  He  gave  some  apostles,  and  some 
prophets,  and  other  some  evangelists,  and  other  some  pastors 
and  doctors :  for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints,  for  the  work  of 
the  ministry,  for  the  edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ :  until  we 
all  meet  in  the  unity  of  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
Son  of  God,  unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  age 
of  the  fulness  of  Christ:  that  henceforth  we  be  no  more 
children  tossed  to  and  fro,  and  carried  about  with  every  wind 
of  doctrine  by  the  wickedness  of  men,  by  cunning  craftiness 
by  which  they  lie  in  wait  to  deceive." 

1  Tim.  iii.  14,  15.  "  These  things  I  write  to  thee,  hoping 
that  I  shall  come  to  thee  shortly.  But  if  I  tarry  long,  that 
thou  mayest  know  how  thou  oughtest  to  behave  thyself  in  the 
house  of  God,  which  is  the  church  of  the  living  God,  the 
pillar  and  ground  of  truth." 

Heb.  xiii.  7,  IT.  "  Eemember  your  prelates  who  have  spoken 
the  word  of  God  to  you ;  whose  faith  follow,  considering  the 
end  of  their  conversation.  Obey  your  prelates,  and  be  subject 
to  them.  For  they  watch  as  being  to  render  an  account  of 
your  souls." 

1  John  iv.  1,  6.  "  Dearly  beloved,  believe  not  every  spirit, 
but  try  the  spirits  if  they  be  of  God :  because  many  false 
prophets  are  gone  out  into  the  world.  We  are  of  God.  He 
that  knoweth  God  heareth  us.  He  that  is  not  of  God,  heareth 
us  not.  By  this  we  know  the  spirit  of  truth  and  the  spirit  of 


THE  FATHEES. 


CENTURY    I. 

ST.  CLEMENT  of  Rome,  of  the  Latin  Church.1 — It  is  shame- 

1  That  St.  Clement  was  honored  by  the  friendship  of  the  great  Apostle, 
St.  Peter,  is  not  doubted  ;  that  he  was  designed  by  that  Apostle  as  his  suc 
cessor  in  the  see  of  Rome,  there  is  good  reason  to  believe.  The  authenti- 


12  AUTHORITY 

ful,  my  beloved,  it  is  most  shameful,  and  unworthy  of  your 
Christian  profession,  that  it  should  be  heard  that  the  most  firm 
and  ancient  church  of  the  Corinthians,  on  account  of  one  or 
two  persons,  is  in  a  sedition  against  the  priests.1  .  .  Who,  then, 
amongst  you  is  generous?  who  that  is  compassionate?  who 
that  is  filled  with  charity  ?  Let  him  say,  "  If  sedition,  and 
strife,  and  schism  be  through  me,  I  will  go  and  depart  whither 
soever  ye  please,  and  do  whatsoever  is  appointed  by  the  mul 
titude  ;  only  let  the  flock  of  Christ  be  at  peace  with  the  con 
stituted  priests.  .  .  ."  9 

Do  ye,  therefore,  who  laid  the  foundation  of  this  sedition, 
submit  yourselves  to  the  priests,8  and  be  instructed  unto 
repentance.  Bending  the  knees  of  your  hearts,  learn  to  be 
subject,  laying  aside  all  proud  and  arrogant  boasting  of  your 
tongues  ;  for  it  is  better  for  you  to  be  found  in  the  sheepf  old 
of  Christ,  little  and  approved,  than,  thinking  yourselves  above 
others,  to  be  cast  out  of  His  hope."  —  Eph.  i.  ad  Cor.  n.  47, 
54,  57.  See  in  connection  with  the  above,  ib.  n.  42-44,  as  given 
under  "  Apostolicity." 

CENTURY    II. 

ST.  IGNATIUS,  of  the  Greek  Church.*  §  4.     "  It  becomes  you 

city  and  genuineness  of  St.  Clement's  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  are 
acknowledged  ;  and  most  critics  now  admit  the  fragment  of  the  second 
epistle  to  the  same  church  to  be  from  his  pen.  The  first  epistle,  as  we 
learn  from  Eusebius,  and  from  other  writers,  was  publicly  read  in  many 
churches,  and  in  some  early  catalogues  it  is  classed  amongst  the  sacred 
writings.  Wetstein  published,  as  Clement's,  two  letters  "to  Virgins,"  but 
Lardner  assigns  them  to  an  Eastern  bishop  of  the  third  century.  Gallandius 
sides  with  Wetstein  ;  whilst  Mansi,  and  others,  are  of  opinion  that  it  is  still 
a  matter  of  doubt.  The  above  are  the  only  writings,  out  of  the  many  as 
cribed  to  St.  Clement,  which  seem  to  have  any  claim  to  be  regarded  as  his. 
Various  dates  between  the  years  65  and  97  have  been  assigned  as  the  time 
when  the  first  epistle  appeared.  The  edition  used  is  Cotelerii  PP.  Apostol. 
Antv.  1698,  compared  with  the  very  accurate  edition  given  by  Gallandius, 
in  the  first  volume  of  his  Bibl.  Vet.  PP.  Venet.  1765. 


TtpoZ  rovS 

8  Mdvov  TO  Tfoijurtov  rov  ^/oztfrotT  EtprjvEVETG),  nrjrd  rcSv 
nsvGor  irpstifivrepoov. 
3  '  TTitoTdyijTE  roi$  TtpEtifivTepoiS. 
*  A  disciple  of  St.  John,   the  Apostle  ;  he  was  bishop  of  Antioch,  in 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  13 

to  concur  in  the  mind  of  your  bishop,  as  also  ye  do.  For  your 
famous  presbytery,  worthy  of  God,  is  knit  as  closely  to  the 
bishop,  as  strings  to  a  harp.".  .  . 

5.  "  Let  no  man  deceive  you  ;  if  a  man  be  not  within  the 
altar,  he  faileth  of  the  bread  of  God.1     For  if  the  prayer  of 
one  or  two  have  such  force,  how  much  more  that  of  the  bishop 
and  of  the  whole  Church  !     He  therefore  that  does  not  come 
together  into  the  same  place  (with  it),  he  is  proud  already,  and 
hath  condemned  himself.     For  it  is  written,  '  God  resisteth  the 
proud  '  (St.  James  iv.)      Let  us  take  heed,  therefore,  that  we 
do  not  set  ourselves  against  the  bishop,  that  we  may  be  set 
under  God. 

6.  "  And  the  more  any  seeth  the  bishop  keep  silence,  the 
more  let  him  fear  him.     For  whomsoever  the  Master  of  the 
house  sendeth  to  his  own  household,  we  ought  so  to  receive, 
as  (we  would)  Him  that  sent  him.     It  is  plain,  then,  that  we 
ought  to  look  to  the  bishop,  as  to  the  Lord  Himself}''  3 

20.  "  Obeying  the  bishop  and  the  presbytery  with  an  entire 
mind  ;  breaking  one  bread,  which  is  the  medicine  of  immor 
tality  ;  an  antidote  that  we  should  not  die,3  but  live  for  ever 
in  Jesus  Christ."  —  Ep.  ad  Ephes. 

3.  "  It  becometh  you  also  not  to  make  free  with  the  youth- 
fulness  of  your  bishop,  but,  according  to  the  power  of  God 
the  Father,  to  concede  to  him  all  reverence,  as  I  am  aware  the 
holy  presbyters  do,  taking  no  occasion  from  his  apparent 
youthful  ordination  (or  state),  but,  as  men  wise  in  God,  submitr 

which  see  he  succeeded  St.  Peter,  or,  as  others  think,  Evodius.  He  is  sup 
posed  to  have  governed  that  church  during  about  forty  years.  He  suffered 
martyrdom  at  Rome  in  the  year  107,  or,  according  to  others,  116.  The 
seven  shorter  epistles,  as  we  learn  from  Eusebius,  H.  E.  1.  iii.  c.  xxxvi., 
were  written  on  his  way  to  martyrdom.  Their  genuineness  is  acknow 
ledged.  The  edition  cited  is  Cotelerii  PP.  Apostol.  Antv.  1698,  compared 
throughout  with  Gallandius,  t.  1,  Bill.  Vet.  PP.  Venet,  1765. 

TOV  Qvtiiatirrjpiov,  idTepEirai  rov  aprov  TOV 


2  Tov  ovv  kititixoTtov  dffXov  on  GJ?  avTov  TOV  nvpiov  Set  TCpod- 
aprov 


TOV 


14  AUTHORITY 

ting  to  him  ;  yet  not  to  him,  but  to  the  Father  of  Jesus  Christ, 
the  Bishop  of  all.  Meet  therefore  it  is,  that,  for  the  honor  of 
Him  who  favors  us,  ye  should  obey  without  any  hypocrisy, 
since  it  is  not  that  a  man  deceives  this  bishop  that  is  seen,  but 
he  trifles  with  Him  who  is  not  seen.  And  in  this  way,  the 
question  is  not  with  flesh,  but  with  God  who  seeth  the  secrets." 

6.  "  I  exhort,  that  ye  study  to  do  all  things  in  the  unanimity 
of  God  ;  the  bishop  holding  presidency,  in  the  place  of  God  ;  ' 
and  the  presbyters  in  the  place  of  the  council  of  the  Apostles  ; 
and  the  deacons,  most  dear  to  me,  entrusted  with  the  service 
of  Jesus  Christ.     Be  ye  made  one  with  the  bishop,  and  with 
those  who  preside,  for  an  example  and  lesson  of  incorruption. 

7.  "  As  therefore  our  Lord,  being  united  (with  the  Father), 
did  nothing  without  Him,  neither  by  Himself,  nor  by  his  Apos 
tles,  so  neither  do  you  do  anything  apart  from  the  bishop  and 
the  presbyters.     Neither  attempt  ye  anything  that  seems  good 
to   your  own  judgment,3  but  let  there  be  in  the  same  place 
one  prayer,  one  supplication,  one  mind,  one  hope,  in  love,  in 
joy  undetiled.     There  is  one  Jesus  Christ,  than  whom  nothino- 

o 

is  better.  Wherefore,  haste  ye  all  together  as  unto  the  temple 
of  God  ;  as  unto  one  altar,3  as  unto  one  Jesus  Christ."  —  Ep. 
ad  Magnesianos. 

2.  "  For  inasmuch  as  you  are  subject  to  the  bishop,  as  to 
Jesus  Christ?  you  seem  to  me  to  be  living  not  according  to 
man,  but  according  to  Jesus  Christ,  who  died  for  our  sakes, 
that  believing  on  His  death,  ye  may  escape  the  death.  It  is 
therefore  necessary,  as  ye  do,  apart  from  the  bishop  to  do 
nothing,  but  to  be  subject  also  to  the  presbytery,  as  to  the 
Apostles  of  Jesus  Christ,  our  hope,  in  whom  may  we  be  found 
living.  It  is  requisite,  too,  that  the  deacons  of  the  mysteries 
of  Jesus  Christ  should  please  all  men  in  every  manner  ;  for 


rov  knitiHOTtov  etS  TOJTOV  Qeov. 

2  EvXoyov  TI  q>aivE<5Qai  idia  vjuiv,  ut  aliquid  vobis  seorsim  rationi 
consentaneum  videatur.—  Coteler.  Neither  endeavor  to  let  anything  appeal 
reasonable  to  yourselves  apart. 

*"Ev  Qvtiiadryptor. 

4  Tco  kniGKOTiGp  vjtord(5d£<5f)£  GJ£  'Itjtfov  Xpitircp. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  15 

they  are  not  deacons  (ministers)  of  meat  and  drink,  but  ser 
vants  of  God's  church.  They  must  therefore  guard  against  im 
putations,  as  against  fire. 

3.  "  Likewise,  let  all  men  give  heed  to  the  deacons,  as  Jesus 
Christ,1  as  also  the  bishop,  being  the  Son  of  the  Father  ; a  to 
the  presbyters,  as  a  council  of  God,  and  a  land  of  Apostles. 
Apart  from  these,  it  is  not  called  a  church."  : 

7.  "  Guard  against  such  men  (heretics) ;  and  guarded  ye 
will  be,  if  ye  are  not  puffed  up,  nor  separated  from  the  God 
Jesus  Christ,  and  from  the  bishop,  and  from  the  regulations 
of  the  Apostles.  He  that  is  within  the  altar  is  pure  ;  but  he 
that  is  without  is  not  pure :  that  is,  he  who  does  aught  apart  from 
bishop  and  presbytery  and  deacon,  he  is  not  clean  in  conscience." 

13.  "  Subject  to  the  bishop,  as  to  the  commandment,  and 
likewise  to  the  presbytery." — Ep.  ad  Trallian. 

7.  "I  cried  out  while  I  was  among  you  ;  I  spake  with  a 
loud  voice  :  <  Give  heed  to  the  bishop,  and  to  the  presbytery, 
and  to  deacons.'  Now  some  suspected  that  I  spake  this  as 
knowing  beforehand  the  division  of  some.  But  He  is  my 
witness,  for  whom  I  am  in  bonds,  that  I  knew  it  not  from 
flesh  of  man  ;  but  the  Spirit  proclaimed,  saying,  ;  Apart  from 
the  bishop  do  nothing :  keep  your  flesh  as  the  temple  of  God : 
love  unity  :  avoid  divisions  :  be  ye  followers  of  Jesus  Christ, 
even  as  He  is  of  His  Father.'  "—Ep.  ad  Philadelph. 

7.  "  Avoid  divisions  as  the  beginning  of  evils." 

8.  "  Follow  the  bishop  all  of  you,  even  as  Jesus  Christ  the 
Father ;  and  the  body  of  presbyters,  as  the  Apostles.     Kespect 
the  deacons,  as  a  commandment  of  God.     Let  no  one  do  any 
thing  pertaining  to  the  church  apart  from  the  bishop."  4 

"  Let  that  be  esteemed  a  sure  eucharist,  which  is  either  un- 

1  The  Vetus  Interpres  has,  ut  mandatum  Jesu  Christi,  and  therefore, 
instead  of  GoS'Iytiovv  Xpi<5rov,  read  &5?  kvToXi]v  7.  X. 

2  This  passage  also  seems  corrupt.     For  attempted  emendations,  see 
Cotelerius,  Gallandius,  and  the  other  editors  in  loco. 

8  XooplS  TOVTGOV  k.KK\.r)6ia  ov  naXeiraa. 

*  MySslS  XMpte  r°v  enitinoitov  rl  npaddlrao  rear  dvrjKovTGOv  Bit 


16  AUTHORITY 

der  the  bishop,  or  him  to  whom  he  may  commit  it.  Where 
the  bishop  is,  there  let  the  multitude  (of  believers)  be  ;  even  as 
where  Jesus  Christ  is,  there  is  the  Catholic  Church.1  Apart 
from  the  bishop  it  is  neither  lawful  to  baptize,  nor  to  hold  an 
agape  ;a  but  whatever  he  judges  right,  that  also  is  well-pleasing 
unto  God,  that  all  which  is  done  may  be  safe  and  sure." 

9.  "  It  is  good  to  regard  God  and  the  bishop.  Whoso  hon- 
oreth  the  bishop,  he  is  honored  of  God  ;  but  he  that  doeth  a 
thing  and  hideth  it  from  the  bishop,  worshippeth  the  devil." 
—^Ep.  ad  Smyrnceos. 

6.  "  Give  heed  unto  the  bishop,  that  God  may  also  hearken 
unto  you.  My  soul  for  the  soul  of  those  who  are  in  subjection 
to  the  bishop,  presbyters,  deacons,  and  may  my  portion  be  with 
them  in  the  Lord."  —  Ep.  ad  Polycarpum. 

ST.  POLYCARP,  G.  C.3  —  "  In  like  manner,  deacons  blameless 
in  the  sight  of  His  righteousness,  as  the  ministers  of  God  in 
Christ,  and  not  of  men.  .  .  .  Wherefore  it  is  necessary  that  ye 
abstain  from  all  these  things,  being  subject  to  the  presbyters 
and  deacons  as  unto  God  and  Christ"  —  Ep.  ad  Philippens. 

ST.  THEOPHILUS,  G.  C.4  —  "  The  world,  we  say,  is  to  us  an 
image  of  the  sea.  For  as  the  sea,  if  it  had  not  the  influx  and 


rf  Ha^oXixrf  kHH\rj6ia..     This  is  the  earliest  instance  of  this 
phrase. 

*'Ayd7trjv  itoif.lv.  Agapen  celebrare.—  Coteler.  To  celebrate  the  Holy 
Communion.  —  Wake  &  Chevallier.  Literally,  to  make  a  love-feast. 

8  St.  Polycarp,  to  whom,  as  we  have  seen,  St.  Ignatius  addressed  one 
of  his  epistles,  was  appointed  Bishop  of  Smyrna  by  the  Apostle  St.  John. 
(Tertull.  de  Pnescrip.  c.  xxxii.)  St.  Irenreus  attests  of  him  that  "  he  was 
instructed  by  Apostles,  and  lived  in  familiar  friendship  with  many  who  had 
seen  the  Lord."  (Adv.  Hares.  1.  iii.  c.  3  ;  ap.  Euseb.  H.  E.  1.  iv.  c.  14.) 
Pearson  (  Vindic.  Ign.  P.  ii.  c.  v.  p.  300-307),  Cave,  and  others  have  proved 
the  genuineness  of  the  epistle  from  which  the  above  extract  is  taken.  That 
it  was  written  about  the  time  that  St.  Ignatius  suffered  martyrdom,  is  evi 
dent  from  the  thirteenth  section.  The  edition  used  is  Cotelerii  PP.  Apos- 
tol.  Antv.  1698. 

4  St.  Theophilus,  Bishop  of  Antioch,  was  the  author  of  several  works 
highly  commended  by  Eusebius  and  St.  Jerome.  Of  these  works,  with  the 
exception  of  two  short  fragments  preserved  by  Eusebius,  only  one  is  known 
to  exist,  viz.,  Three  Books  to  Autolychiis,  in  defence  of  the  Christian  faith, 
which  work,  there  is  reason  to  believe,  appeared  about  the  year  182.  The 
edition  cited  from  is  S.  Justini,  ed.  Bened.  Paris.  1742. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  17 

supply  of  rivers  and  springs  to  feed  it,  would,  through  its 
saltness,  long  since  have  disappeared  ;  so  also  the  world,  if  it 
had  not  the  law  of  God  and  the  prophets,  pouring  forth  and 
welling  meekness  and  mercy  and  righteousness,  and  the  doc 
trine  of  the  holy  commandments  of  God,  would,  through  the 
wickedness  and  sinfulness  multiplied  within  it,  have  already 
ceased  to  be.  And  as  in  the  sea  there  are  inhabited  and  well- 
watered  and  fruitful  islands,  with  ports  and  harbors,  that  they 
that  are  tempest-tossed  may  find  shelter  in  them  ;  so  to  the 
world,  agitated  and  tossed  by  sins,  God  hath  given  the  syna 
gogues  —  I  mean  holy  churches  —  in  which,  as  in  harbors,  in 
islands  well  protected  from  the  sea,  are  the  doctrines  of  the 
truth  ;'  unto  which  (churches)  they  who  wish  to  be  saved  fly, 
becoming  enamored  of  the  truth,  and  wishing  to  flee  from  the 
anger  and  judgment  of  God.  And  as,  on  the  other  hand, 
there  are  other  islands  rocky  and  dry  and  fruitless,  tenanted  by 
wild  beasts  and  uninhabited  by  man  —  to  the  destruction  of  sea 
men  and  the  tempest-tossed  —  on  which  vessels  are  dashed,  and 
they  who  come  unto  them  perish  ;  so  are  there  the  doctrines 
of  error  —  I  mean  of  the  heresies  —  which  utterly  destroy  those 
who  come  unto  them.  For  they  are  not  guided  by  the  word 
of  the  truth,  but  as  pirates,  when  they  have  filled  their  vessels, 
impel  them  against  the  aforesaid  places  in  order  to  destroy 
them,  so  too  does  it  befall  those  who  wander  from  the  truth, 
to  be  utterly  destroyed  by  error."  —  Ad  Autolychum,  I.  ii. 
n.  14,^?.  359,  ed.  Bened.  S.  Justini,  Paris.  1742. 

ST.  IREN^EUS,  G.  C.a  —  (Under  "  Apostolicity"  will  be 
found  the  context  immediately  preceding  the  following  ex 
tracts.)  1.  "  There  being  such  proofs  to  look  to,  we  ought 


.  .  .  rat  tivrayaoydt,  \eyofjLZv  8k 
atS  xaQditep  Xinetiiv  .  .  .  ai  SidatiKaXiai  TTJ^  a\.r)Qeia$  ettfi. 

8  Though  by  birth  a  Greek,  he  was  Bishop  of  Lyons  in  the  second  cen 
tury.  He  tells  us  that,  in  his  early  youth,  he  learned  the  rudiments  of  reli 
gion  from  St.  Polycarp,  the  disciple  of  St.  John  the  Apostle.  He  wrote 
several  works,  of  which  only  a  few  fragments  are  now  known,  with  the  ex 
ception  of  the  Treatise  against  Heretics,  in  five  books.  The  entire  Greek 
original  of  this  work  has  not  been  discovered,  but  the  industry  of  several 
learned  men  has  collected,  from  various  sources,  about  one-fourth  of  the 


18  AUTHORITY 

not  still  to  seek  amongst  others  for  truth  which  it  is  easy  to  re 
ceive  from  the  Church,  seeing  that  the  Apostles  most  fully 
committed  unto  this  Church,  as  unto  a  rich  repository,  all 
whatsoever  is  of  truth,1  that  every  one  that  willeth  may  draw 
out  of  it  the  drink  of  life.  For  this  is  the  gate  of  life ;  but  all 
others  are  thieves  and  robbers.  Therefore  we  ought  to  avoid 
them,  but  to  cling  with  the  utmost  care  to  whatever  is  of  the 
church,9  and  to  hold  fast  to  the  tradition  of  truth.  For  what  ? 
Even  if  there  should  be  a  dispute  about  any  trifling  point, 
ought  we  not  to  have  recourse  to  the  most  ancient  churches,* 
in  which  Apostles  resided,  and  from  them  to  take  whatever  is 
certain  and  really  clear  on  the  existing  dispute  ?  But  what  if 
the  Apostles  had  not  left  us  writings  :  would  it  not  have  been 
needful  to  follow  the  order  of  that  tradition  which  they  de 
livered  to  those  to  whom  they  committed  the  churches  ? " 

2.  "  An  ordinance  to  which  many  of  the  barbarous  nations 
who  believe  in  Christ  assent,  having  salvation  written,  with 
out  paper  and  ink,  by  the  Spirit,  in  their  hearts,  and  sedu 
lously  guarding  the  old  tradition."  (St.  Irenceus  then  gives  a 
brief  summary  of  Christian  trutlis  held  by  those  nations, 
and  proceeds  as  follows ;) — "  They  who,  without  the  aid  of 
letters,  have  believed  this  faith,  are,  as  far  as  our  language  is 
concerned,  untutored  (barbarians),  but  as  regards  opinion  and 
custom  and  conversation,  they  are,  through  faith,  pre-emi 
nently  wise,  and  are  well-pleasing  unto  God,  having  their  con- 
whole  work,  in  that  language.  We  have  a  Latin  version,  exceedingly  harsh 
and  obscure,  but,  as  the  Greek  that  has  been  found  shows,  remarkably 
literal  and  accurate.  It  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  Tertullian  used  this 
version,  as  also  did  St.  Cyprian  ;  that  St.  Augustine  quotes  from  it  is  not 
disputed.  The  date  of  the  completion  of  this  treatise  is  not  known  ;  but 
that  it  could  not  be  earlier  than  the  year  184  seems  evident,  as  it  mentions 
Theodotion's  translation.  St.  Irena?us  succeeded  St.  Pothinus  as  Bishop  of 
Lyons  about  the  year  177,  and  died,  or  was  martyred,  about  the  year  202. 
The  edition  used  is  the  Ed.  Bened.  Paris.  1742. 

1  Tantae  igitur  ostensiones  quum  sint,  non  oportet  adhuc  qua?rere  apud 
alios  veritatem,  quam  facile  est  ab  ecclesia  sumere  ;  quum  apostoli,  quasi  in 
depositorium  dives,  plenissime  in  earn  contulerint  omnia  qua?  sunt  veritatis. 

2  Quae  autem  sunt  ecclesiae,  cum  summa  diligentia  diligere. 

3  In  antiquissimas  recurrere  ecclesias. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  19 

versation  in  all  justice,  and  chastity,  and  wisdom.  To  these, 
if  any  one,  addressing  them  in  their  own  language,  should 
have  announced  the  things  that  have  been  invented  by  here 
tics,  they  would  at  once  have  stopped  their  ears,  and  have  fled 
far  away,  not  enduring  even  to  hear  the  blasphemous  address. 
Thus,  through  that  ancient  tradition  of  the  Apostles1  they 
admit  not  even  into  their  minds'  conception  whatever  of  mon 
strous  assertion  proceeds  from  these  men  ;  for  amongst  them 
there  was,  hitherto,  no  euch  congregation  nor  doctrine  insti 
tuted." 

3.  "  For  before  Yalentinus  there  were  no  Yalentinians,  nor 
Marcionites  before  Marcion,  nor,  in  fact,  any  of  the  other  ma 
lignant  sentiments  enumerated  above,  before  there  arose  in 
ventors  and  beginners  of  each  perverse  opinion.  But  the 
rest,  called  Gnostics,  who  derive  their  origin,  as  we  have 
shown,  from  Menander,  Simon's  disciple,  each  of  them  of 
that  opinion  which  he  adopted,  of  it  he  was  seen  to  be  the 
parent  and  high-priest.  But  all  these  fell  much  later  into 
their  apostasy,  during  the  mid  period  of  the  duration  of  the 
Church."— Adv.  Hceres.  L.  iii.  c.  iv.  pp.  178,  179,  Ed.  Ben. 
Paris.  1742.  See  also  Ibid.  L.  iii.  Prcefat.p.  173. 

1.  "  Tradition,  therefore,  which  is  from  the  Apostles  being 
thus  in  the  Church,  and  continuing  amongst  us,2  let  us  return 
to  that  proof  which  is  from  the  writings  of  those  who  wrote 
the  Gospels." — Hid.  c.  v.  n.  i.  p.  179. 

"In   the    Cliurch,    saith   he,    God    hath    placed   apostles, 

1  Per  illam  veterem  Apostolorum  traditionem. 

2  Traditions  igitur,  quae  est  ab  apostolis,  sic  se  habente  in  ecclesia,  et 
permanente  apud  nos.     In  the  preface  to  this  third  book  he  says  :— "  Bear, 
therefore,  in  mind  what  has  been  said  in  the  preceding  books,  and,  adding 
this  to  them,  you  will  have  a  most  complete  plea  against  all  heretics,  and 
you  will  faithfully  and  most  earnestly  withstand  them  in  favor  of  the  alone 
true  and  life-giving  faith  which  the  Church  received  from  the  Apostles  and 
distributes  to  her  children.     (Resistes  eis  pro  sola  vera  ac  vivifica  fide,  quam 
ab  Apostolis  ecclesia  percepit,  et  distribuit  filiis  suis.)     For  the  Lord  of  all 
gave  the  power  of  the  Gospel  to  His  Apostles,  through  whom  we  also  hare 
known  the  truth— that  is,  the  doctrine  of  the  Son  of  God  ;  to  whom  also  the 
Lord  said  :— '  Pie  that  heareth  you,  heareth  me;  and  he  that  despiseth  you 
despiseth  me  '  (Luke  x.  16)."— p.  173. 


20  AUTHORITY 

prophets,  doctors,  and  every  other  operation  of  the  Spirit,  of 
which  all  they  are  not  partakers  who  do  not  hasten  to  the 
Church,1  but  by  their  evil  sentiment  and  most  flagrant  con 
duct,  defraud  themselves  of  life.  For  where  the  Church  is, 
there  is  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  where  the  Spirit  of  God  is, 
there  is  the  Church  and  every  grace ;  but  the  Spirit  is  truth.1 
Wherefore,  they  who  do  not  partake  of  it,  are  neither  nour 
ished  unto  life  from  the  breasts  of  a  mother,  nor  see  the  most 
clear  spring  which  flows  from  Christ's  body,  but  dig  unto 
themselves  broken  cisterns  out  of  earthy  trenches,  and  out 
of  the  tilth  drink  foul  water,  fleeing  from  the  faith  of  the 
Church,  lest  they  be  brought  back ;  but  rejecting  the  Spirit 
that  they  may  not  be  instructed." — Ibid.  L.  iii.  c.  24,  n.  I,  p. 
223.  (See  the  continuation  of  the  preceding  passage  under 
"  Unity '.") 

"  Wherefore,  we  ought  to  obey  those  presbyters  who  are  in 
the  Church,  those  who  have  a  succession  from  the  Apostles,  as 
we  have  shown ;  who,  with  the  succession  of  the  episcopate, 
have  received,  according  to  the  good  will  of  the  Father,  the 
sure  gift  (grace)  of  truth ;  but  the  rest,  who  depart  from  the 
principal  succession,  and  assemble  in  any  place  whatever  (or, 
in  whatever  place  they  may  assemble),  we  ought  to  hold  sus 
pected,  either  as  heretics,1  and  of  an  evil  opinion,  or  as  schisma 
tics  and  proud,  and  as  men  pleasing  themselves ;  or,  again,  as 
hypocrites  doing  this  for  gain's  sake  and  vain-glory." — Ibid. 
L.  iv.  c.  xxvi.  n.  2,  p.  262.  See  the  continuation  under  "The 
Church  the  Expounder  of  Scripture"  especially  n.  4,  5. 

The  context,  preceding  the  following  extract,  will  be  found 
under  "  Visibility."  "  And,  indeed,  the  preaching  (or,  public 

1  Cujus  non  sunt  participes  omnes  qui  non  currunt  ad  ecclesiara. 

9  Ubi  enim  ecclesia,  ibi  et  spiritus  Dei,  et  ubi  spiritus  Dei,  illic  ecclesia, 
et  omnis  gratia  ;  Spiritus  autem  veritas. 

3  Quapropter  eis  qui  in  ecclesia  sunt,  presbyteris,  obaudire  oportet,  his 
qui  successionem  habent  ab  apostolis,  sicut  ostendiraus  ;  qui  cum  episco- 
patus  successione  charisma  veritatis  certum,  secundum  placitura  Patris, 
acceperunt:  reliquos  vero,  qui  absistunt  a  principal!  successione,  et  quo* 
(junque  loco  colligunt,  suspectos  habere,  vel  quasi  haereticos. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  21 

teaching)  of  the  Church,  in  which  one  and  the  same  way  of 
salvation  is  set  forth  throughout  the  whole  world,  is  true  and 
firm.1  For  to  this  (Church)  has  been  entrusted  the  light  of 
God,  and  on  this  account  is  the  wisdom  of  God,  through 
which  He  saves  all  men,  proclaimed  in  the  gates  (outlets) ; 
in  the  streets  she  acts  confidently.  .  .  .  For  everywhere  the 
Church  preacheth  the  truth ;  and  this  is  the  lamp  with  seven 
branches,  which  bears  the  light  of  Christ." 

2.  "They,  therefore,  who  abandon  the  teaching  of  the 
Church,  condemn  the  holy  presbyters  of  ignorance ;  not  con 
sidering  how  much  preferable  is  a  religious,  though  untutored 
individual,2  to  a  blasphemous  and  impudent  sophist." — Ibid. 
L.  v.  c.  xx.  n.  1,  2,_£>,  317.  See  the  continuation  under  the  head 
"  Visibility"  For  other  extracts,  of  a  similar  character,  see  the 
ensuing  articles  ;  for  example,  L.  iv.  c.  33,  n.  7,  8,  given  under 
"Unity  ;  "  L.  iii.  c.  3,  pp.  175-177,  given  under  "  Apostoli- 
city ;"  and  L.  iv.  c.  26,  given  under  "  The  Church  the  Ex 
pounder  of  Scripture" 

CLEMENT  OF  ALEXANDRIA,  G.  C.3 — Explaining  ivhy  Chris- 

1  Ecclesiae  quidem  praedicatio  vera  et  firma. 

2  Qui  ergo  relinquunt  praeconium  Ecclesiae,  imperitiam  sanctorum  pres- 
byterorum  arguunt,  non  contemplantes  quanto  pluris  sit  idiota  religiosus. 

3  An  Athenian  by  birth,  a  priest  of  the  church  of  Alexandria,  and  a 
scholar  of  Pantaenus,  to  whom  he  succeeded  as  master  in  the  catechetical 
school  of  that  city.     He  flourished  towards  the  close  of  the  second  century, 
and  died  early  in  the  third,  probably  about  the  year  220.     The  edition 
quoted  is  Potter's,  Venet.  1757.     His  writings  display  great  acquaintance 
with  the  Gentile  philosophy,  and  polite  literature  in  general,  but  are  very 
obscure,  and  his  interpretations  of  Scripture  are,  like  those  of  that  school, 
principally  mystical.     It  must  also  be  remarked  that  he  warns  his  readers 
again  and  again  that  he  wrote  with  the  express  design  of  hiding  the  mysteries 
of  the  Christian  religion  from  the  Pagans,  and  the  uninitiated,  whilst  he, 
at  the  same  time,  labored  to  show  the  immense  practical  superiority  of  the 
Christian  code  of  morals  over  that  of  every  Pagan  sect  and  system  of  philo 
sophy.     Some  of  those  mysteries,  he  tells  his  readers,  he  would  avoid  alto 
gether,  others  he  would  only  allude  to,  so  as  to  be  understood  by  the  ini 
tiated  Christian.     Certain  writers,  not  knowing,  or  not  stating  this,  have 
urged  obscure  expressions  used  by  Clement,  when  speaking,  for  instance,  of 
the  holy  Eucharist,  as  serious  objections  to  the  belief  of  the  Catholic  Church. 
The  extracts  given  from  Clement,  in  the  articles  on  Tradition,  and  on  the 
Discipline  of  the  Secret,  will  at  once  show  that  such  objections  arise  from 
want  of  acquaintance  with  Clement's  design,  and  object  and  mode  of  writing. 


22  AUTHORITY 

tians  are  called  "children"  and  Christ  "a  man"  he  says  : 
"  The  Apostle,  writing  to  the  Ephesians,  has  very  clearly  mani 
fested  what  we  are  seeking  after,  saying  thus —  Until  we  all 
meet  in  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  God, 
unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  age  of  the  fulness 
of  Christ,  that  henceforth  we  be  no  more  children  tossed  to 
and  fro,  and  carried  about  by  every  wind  of  doctrine,  &c. 
(Ephes.  iv.),  saying  these  things  unto  the  building  up  of  the 
body  of  Christ,  who  is  a  head  and  a  man,  the  alone  perfect  in 
righteousness  ;  but  we  children,  avoiding  the  winds  of  heresies 
which  puff  up  to  swelling  pride,  and  not  believing  those  who 
teach  otherwise  than  the  fathers,'  are  then  perfected,  when 
we  are  a  Church,  having  received  Christ  the  head." — Pcedag. 
L.  i.  c.  5,  p.  108. 

Continuing  the  explanation  of  the  word  "  child,"  he  quotes 
Isaias  Ixvi.  12,  13,  "  Their  children,"  he  saith,  "  shaU  be  car 
ried  upon  the  shoulders,  and  upon  the  knees  they  shall  be 
comforted.  As  one  whom  a  mother  comforteth,  so  also  will 
I  comfort  you.  The  mother  brings  unto  her  her  children,  and 
we  seek  the  mother  the  Church"  a — Ib.  p.  110. 

"  Oh  pupils  of  a  blessed  education,  let  us  complete  the  beau 
tiful  person  of  the  Church,  and  let  us  run,  like  children,  to  the 
good  mother ;  and  if  we  are  hearers  of  the  Word,  let  us  glorify 
the  blessed  economy,  through  which  man  is  instructed,  and 
sanctified  as  the  child  of  God,  and  becomes  a  citizen  of  heaven ; 
his  instruction  having  been  carried  on  below,  and  he  then  re 
ceives,  as  a  father,  Him  whom  he  learns  on  earth.  The  Word 
both  does,  and  teaches,  all  things,  and  acts  the  part  of  the 

Pedagogue  in  all  things And  since  the  Psedagogue, 

having  brought  us  unto  the  Church,  has  united  us  to  Himself, 
to  the  Word,  the  teacher  and  universal  overseer,  it  would  be 
well  for  us,  being  there,  to  send  up  to  the  Lord,  as  a  return  of 
just  thanksgiving,  praise  befitting  a  good  education." — Pwdag. 
L.  \\\.pp.  310,  311. 

1  M?;  ua.TaTti6T£vovrt<>  roit  aAAo>5  r/mv  yovQerovdi 

2  'H/UEtS  tyjTovusv  Tjjy  nrjripa  rrjv 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  23 

u  An  excellent  thing  the  city  and  the  people  .  .  .  gov 
erned  by  law,  as,  by  the  Word,  the  Church  ;  which  is  a  city 
on  earth,  impregnable,  and  free  from  tyranny ;  the  divine  will 
on  earth,  as  (it  is)  in  heaven." — Stromat.  L.  iv.p.  642.1 

"  They  who  will,  may  discover  the  truth.  .  .  .  We  may 
learn  demonstratively,  through  the  Scriptures  themselves,  how 
the  heresies  have  fallen  away,  and  how  in  the  alone  truth,  and 
in  the  ancient  Church,2  there  is  the  most  accurate  knowledge, 
and  the  truly  best  election." — Strom.  L.  vii.  p.  888. 

TEBTULLIAN,  L.  C.3 — "  It  is  not  lawful  for  us  to  introduce 
(indulge)  anything  of  our  own  choice,  as  neither  is  it  to  choose 

1  Scattered  in  Clement's  works  are  various  incidental  allusions  to  the 
Church,  from  which  we  may  gather  his  opinions  concerning  it.  I  have  col 
lected  the  following  : 

"We  are  perfect  when  we  become  a  Church." — Pwdag.  L.  i.  p.  108. 

"  We  seek  the  mother,  the  Church."— Ib.  L.  i.  p.  108  ;  see  also  L.  iii. 
p.  310. 

"  The  Church  is  the  spouse  of  Christ,  and  to  her  He  has  given  the  firm 
name,  Patience." — Ib.  L.  i.  p.  111. 

"Christ  looks  upon  His  only  Church." — Ib.  L.  i.  1.  c. 

"  And  she  remains  rejoicing  unto  all  ages." — 1.  c. 

"  The  will  of  God  is  man's  salvation,  and  this  will  is  called  the  Church, 
which  consists  of  those  whom  God  called  and  saved." — Ib.  L.  i.  p.  114. 

"The  Church  is  at  once  a  virgin  and  a  mother  ;  a  virgin  in  purity,  a 
mother  in  affection. " — Ib.  L.  i.  p.  123. 

"The  Church  is  the  holy  mountain,  the  Church  on  high  above  the 
clouds,  touching  the  heavens." — Ib.  L.  i.  p.  148. 

"It  is  called  the  kingdom  of  God,  the  heavenly  assembly  of  love,  the 
holy  Church."— Ib.  L.  ii.  pp.  166,  167. 

"  They  knew  not  why  the  Lord  did  not  marry.  But,  in  the  first  place, 
He  had  His  own  spouse,  the  Church." — Strom.  L.  iii.  p.  533. 

"The  Church  on  earth  is  the  image  of  the  Church  in  heaven." — Ib.  L. 
iv.  p.  593. 

"The  Church  is  the  congregation  of  the  elect." — Ib.  L.  vii.  p.  846. 

"  The  spiritual  and  holy  choir  forming  the  spiritual  part  of  the  body  of 
Christ,  of  which  they  who  only  bear  the  name  of  Christians,  but  do  not  live 
according  to  reason,  are  the  flesh." — Ib.  L.  vii.  p.  885.  For  other  ana 
logous  statements  occurring  in  the  same  book  of  the  Stromata,  the  reader 
is  referred  to  the  Appendix. 

2  'EV  fjiovy  ry  dXrjQeia,  ua.1  T$  apxaia  kHu\.rj6ict.. 

3  Contemporary  with  St.  Irenaeus  was  Tertullian,  a  native  and  citizen  of 
Carthage.     The  zeal  and  ability  with  which  he  defended  the  Christian  cause, 
and  vindicated  its  faith  and  discipline,  have  immortalized  his  name,  which, 
however,  has  suffered  by  his  adoption,  about  the  year  200,  of  some  of  the 
errors  of  the  Montanists,  whose  cause  he  is  thought  to  have  supported  until 


24  AUTHORITY 

that  which  any  one  may  have  introduced  of  his  own  choice.1 
We  have  for  our  authors  the  Apostles  of  the  Lord,  who  did  not 
even  themselves  choose  anything  to  be  introduced  of  their  own 
will,2  but  faithfully  delivered  over  to  the  nations  the  religion 
(disciplinam)  which  they  had  received  from  Christ." — For  con 
tinuation,  see  "  Apostolicity"  De  Prcescrip.  Hceret.  n.  6, 
p.  203. 

"  Now  what  the  Apostles  preached,  that  is,  what  Christ  re 
vealed  unto  them,  I  will  here  also  rule,  must  be  proved  in  no 
other  way  than  by  those  same  churches  which  the  Apostles 
themselves  founded  ?  themselves  by  preaching  to  them  as  well 
viva  voce,  as  men  say,  as  afterwards  by  epistles.  If  these 
things  be  so,  it  becomes  forthwith  manifest  that  all  doctrine 
which  agrees  with  those  Apostolic  churches,  the  wombs  and 
originals  of  the  faith,  must  be  accounted  true,  as  without  doubt 
containing  that  which  the  churches  have  received  from  the 
Apostles,  the  Apostles  from  Christ,  Christ  from  God;  but 
that  every  doctrine  must  be  judged  at  once  to  be  false,  which 
savoreth  things  contrary  to  the  truth  of  the  churches,4  and 
of  the  Apostles,  and  of  Christ,  and  of  God.  It  remains, 
therefore,  that  we  show  whether  this  our  doctrine,  the  rule  of 
which  we  have  above  declared,  be  derived  from  the  tradition 
of  the  Apostles,  and  from  this  very  fact,  whether  the  other 
doctrines  come  of  falsehood.  We  have  communion  with  the 
Apostolic  churches,  because  we  have  no  doctrine  differing 
from  them.  This  is  evidence  of  truth."— Ibid,  n,  21,  p.  209. 

his  death,  which  took  place  about  the  year  218  or  220.  His  works  are  nume 
rous,  and  written  with  great  ability  and  erudition,  but  the  style,  resembling 
the  asperity  of  his  mind,  is  inelegant  and  intricate,  though  nervous  and  im 
pressive.  The  edition  used  is  that  of  Rigaltius,  Paris.  1695. 

1  Nobis  vero  nihil  ex  nostro  arbitrio  indulgere  licet,  sed  nee  eligere  quod 
aliquis  de  arbitrio  suo  induxerit. 

2  Ex  suo  arbitrio. 

3  Non  aliter  probari  debere,  nisi  per  easdem  Ecclesias  quas  ipsi  apostoli 
condiderunt. 

4  Constat  omnem  doctrinam  quae  cum  illis  ecclesiis  apostolicis,  matricibus 
etoriginalibusfideiconspiret,  veritati  deputandam  .  .  .  omnem  vero  doctri 
nam  de  inendaciopra3judicandam,qua?sapiat  contra  veritatem  ecclesiarum. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  25 

For  continuation,  see  "  Apostolicity,"  under  which  head  a 
great  portion  of  the  Treatise  "De  Prcescriptionibus"  will 
he  found,  and  most  of  which  applies  directly  to  the  question 
before  us. 

The  following  is  part  of  a  valuable  defence  of  the  genuine 
ness  of  St.  Luke's  Gospel,  against  Marcion :  "To  sum  up,  if 
it  is  certain  that  that  is  truest  which  is  most  ancient,  that  most 
ancient  which  is  even  from  the  beginning,  that  from  the  begin 
ning  which  is  from  the  Apostles ;  it  wTill  in  like  manner  also 
be  certain,  that  that  has  been  handed  down  by  the  Apostles, 
which  shall  have  been  held  sacred  by  the  churches  of  the 
Apostles.  Let  us  see  what  milk  the  Corinthians  drained  from 
Paul ;  what  the  Philippians,  the  Thessalonians,  the  Ephesians 
read ;  also  what  the  Romans  close  at  hand  trumpet  forth,  to 
whom  both  Peter  and  Paul  left  the  Gospel  sealed  also  with 
their  blood.  We  have  also  the  churches  taught  by  John.  For 
although  Marcion  rejects  his  Apocalypse,  nevertheless  the  suc 
cession  of  bishops,  counted  up  to  their  origin,  will  stand  by 
John  as  the  author.1  Thus  also  is  the  noble  -origin  of  the  other 
churches  recognized.  I  say,  therefore,  that  that  Gospel  of 
Luke  which  we  are  principally  defending,  holds  its  place,  from 
the  first  of  its  publication,  amongst  the  churches,  not  the  apos 
tolic  alone,  but  all  which  are  covenanted  with  them  by  the 
fellowship  of  religion ;  whilst  that  of  Marcion  is  to  most  not 
known,  and  known  to  none  except  to  be  therefore  condemned. 
That  Gospel  too  has  churches,  but  its  own ;  as  of  later  date, 
as  they  are  false,  whose  origin  if  you  seek  for,  you  will  more 
easily  find  it  apostate  than  apostolical ;  with  Marcion,  to  wit 
the  founder,  or  some  one  from  Marcion's  hive.  Wasps,  too, 
form  nests ;  Marcionites,  too,  form  churches.  The  same  au 
thority  of  the  apostolic  churches  will  defend  the  other  Gospels 
also,  which  accordingly  we  have  through  those  churches,  and 

1  Ordo  episcoporum  ad  originem  recenstis  in  Joannem  stabit  auctorera, 
may  also  be  translated — "the  order  (or  succession)  of  bishops,  when  traced 
up  to  its  original,  will  be  found  to  have  John  as  an  author."  This  is  Bing- 
ham's  translation,  and  the  usual  one,  but  the  context  and  argument  seem  to 
require  that  given  in  the  text. 


26  AUTHORITY 

according  to  those  churches,  I  mean  the  Gospel  of  John  and 
Matthew,  &c.  It  is  some  such  compendious  arguments  as 
these  that  we  make  use  of,  when  we  are  arguing  on  the  genuine 
ness  of  the  Gospel  against  heretics,  defending  both  the  order 
of  time  which  rules  against  the  posterior  date  of  the  falsifiers, 
and  the  authority  of  the  churches  which  takes  under  its  guar 
dianship  the  tradition  of  the  Apostles;  because  the  truth 
must  needs  precede  what  is  false,  and  proceed  from  those  by 
whom  it  has  been  handed  down." — Adv.  Marcion,  I.  iv.  n.  5, 
pp.  415,  416. 

CENTURY    III. 

ORIGEN,  G.  C.1 — "  They  who  have  believed,  and  are  per 
suaded  that  grace  and  truth  have  arisen  through  Jesus  Christ, 
and  that  Christ  is  the  truth,  derive  not  the  knowledge  which 
impels  men  to  live  well  and  happily,  from  other  source  than 
the  very  words  and  teaching  of  Christ.  But  that  He  also, 
after  His  assumption  into  heaven,  spoke  in  His  Apostles,  Paul 
points  out  thus :  '  Or  do  you  seek  a  proof  that  it  is  Christ 
that  speaketh  in  me  ? ' '  — 2  Cor.  xiii.  3. 

2.  "  Wherefore,  since  many  of  those  who  profess  to  believe 
in  Christ,  differ,  not  only  in  small  and  the  most  trifling,  but 
also  in  great  and  the  most  important  things,  to  wit,  either  re 
specting  God,  or  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  or  the  Holy  Spirit ; 
and  not  only  on  these  points,  but  also  respecting  the  domina 
tions  and  holy  powers ;  therefore  does  it  seem  necessary,  in 
the  first  place,  with  respect  to  each  of  these  matters,  to  lay 
down  a  certain  line  and  a  manifest  rule,  and  then,  in  the  next 
place,  to  proceed  to  inquire  about  other  matters.  For  as, 
though  many  of  the  Greeks  and  barbarians  promise  truth,  we 
have  ceased  to  seek  for  it  amongst  all  those  who  with  false 
opinions  claim  it,  since  we  have  believed  that  Christ  is  the  Son 
of  God,  and  we  are  convinced  that  it  is  to  be  learned  by  us 
from  Him ;  so,  there  being  many  who  fancy  that  they  think 

1  Origen  was  born  in  Egypt  about  the  year  184,  and  died  about  the  year 
253.  The  Benedictine  edition  (Paris.  1733-59)  is  the  one  followed  here. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  27 

the  things  of  Christ,  and  some  of  them  think  differently  from 
those  who  have  gone  before,  let  there  be  preserved  the  eccle 
siastical  teaching,  which,  transmitted  by  the  order  of  succes 
sion  from  the  Apostles,  remains  even  to  the  present  day  in 
the  churches : '  that  alone  is  to  be  believed  to  be  truth,  which 
in  nothing  differs  from  the  ecclesiastical  and  apostolical  tradi 
tion."2—^  Principiis,  t.  i.  I.  1,  n.  1,  2,  p.  47,  ed.  De  la 
Rue,  Paris.  1733.  See  also  Ibid.  I.  iv.  n.  9,^?.  166. 

"  As  in  the  firmament,  called  heaven,  God  commanded  that 
there  should  be  lights  to  divide  night  from  day,  so,  too,  in  us 
may  this  take  place,  if  so  be  that  we  strive  both  to  be  called 
and  to  be  a  heaven :  we  shall  have  in  us,  as  lights  to  enlighten 
us,  Christ  and  His  Church.  For  He  is  the  light  of  the  world, 
who  also  with  His  light  enlightens  the  Church.  For  as  the 
moon  is  said  to  derive  light  from  the  sun,  that  by  it  even  the 
night  may  be  illumined,  so  also  the  Church,  having  received 
the  light  of  Christ,  gives  light  to  all  who  live  in  the  night  of 
ignorance.  As  the  sun  and  moon  give  light  to  our  bodies,  so 
also  are  our  minds  enlightened  by  Christ  and  the  Church." 3— 
T.  ii.  Horn.  1,  In  Genes,  n.  5,  7,^>.  54,  55. 

Explaining  Prov.  v.  15,  18,  he  says,  "  Wherefore,  do  thou 
too  try,  oh  hearer,  to  have  thine  own  well,  and  thine  own 
spring,  that  thou  too,  when  thou  shalt  take  hold  of  a  book  of 
the  Scriptures,  mayest  begin,  even  from  thine  own  understand- 

1  Servetur  ecclesiastica  praedicatio  per  successions  ordinem  ab  apostolis 
tradita,  et  usque  ad  praesens  in  ecclesiis  permanens. 

*  Ilia  sola  credenda  estveritas,  quae  in  nullo  ab  ecclesiastica  et  apostolica 
discordat  traditione.  See  this  passage  adduced,  later  in  this  article,  by  St. 
Pamphilus,  as  the  key  to  Origen's  writings,  and  as  vindicating  his  ortho 
doxy.  In  the  context  which  follows  the  passage  given  in  the  text,  Origen 
gives,  as  an  illustration  of  his  meaning,  several  doctrines  relative  to  God,  the 
soul,  etc.,  which,  he  says,  are  clearly  taught  by  the  Church  (manifestissime 
in  ecclesiis  prsedicatur  ;  est  et  illud  definitum  in  ecclesiastica  praedicatione  ; 
de  quo  totius  ecclesiae  una  sententia  est) ;  and  several  others  which  the 
Church  had  not  clearly  defined,  and  were,  in  his  judgment,  matters  of  opin 
ion.  (De  Spiritu  Sancto  non  jam  manifesto  discernitur,  utrum,  &c.  ; 
quales  sunt  (Angeli)  non  satis  clare  exposuit  praedicatio  ecclesiastica,  &c.) 

3  Luminaria  habebimus  in  nobis,  quae  illuminent  nos,  Christum,  et  eccle- 
siam  ejus  .  .  .  Ecclesia  suscepto  lumine  Christi,  illuminat  omnes  ...  ft 
Christo  atque  ecclesia  illuminantur  mentes  nostrae. 


28  AUTHORITY 

ing,  to  produce  some  meaning ;  and,  according  to  those  things 
which  thou  hast  learned  in  the  Church,1  do  thou  too  try  to 
drink  from  the  spring  of  thine  ability." — T.  ii.  Horn.  xii.  in 
Genes,  n.  $,p.  93. 

Commenting  on  the  schism  of  Core  and  his  adherents 
(Numb,  xvi.),  he  says  :  "  Core  is  the  type  of  those  who  rise  up 
against  the  faith  of  the  Church  and  the  doctrine  of  truth.1 
Therefore  is  it  written  concerning  Core  and  his  company,  that 
in  brazen  censers  they  offered  the  incense  of  a  strange  fire. 
And  the  strange  fire  is  indeed  commanded  by  God  to  be 
scattered  and  poured  forth  ;  but  '  the  censers,  because  they  are 
sanctified,  make  them  into  broad  plates,  and  cover  the  altar 
with  them,  because  they  were  offered  before  the  Lord,  and  they 
are  sanctified.'  (v.  38.)  This,  therefore,  seems  to  me  to  be 
shown  by  this  type,  that  these  '  censers/  which  the  Scripture 
says  were  of  *  brass,'  are  a  type  of  the  divine  Scripture.  Upon 
which  Scripture,  heretics  putting  a  strange  fire,  that  is,  a  sense 
and  meaning  alien  from  God,  and  introducing  a  meaning  con 
trary  to  the  truth,  offer  to  God  an  incense  not  sweet,  but  exe 
crable.  And  therefore  is  a  model  given  to  the  priests  of  the 
churches,  that,  if  ever  anything  of  the  kind  arise,  the  things 
that  are  alien  from  the  truth  be  utterly  banished  from  the 
Church  of  God  :  but  if  there  be,  even  in  the  words  of  heretics, 
some  things  intermixed  with  the  meanings  of  Scripture,  that 
they  are  not  to  be  repudiated  together  with  those  which  are 
contrary  to  faith  and  truth  ;  for  the  things  that  are  produced 
from  divine  Scripture  are  hallowed  and  offered  to  the  Lord." 
-T.  ii.  Horn.  ix.  in  Numer.  n.  1,  pp.  295,  296.  See  also 
t.  ii.  Horn.  viii.  in  Jos.  n.  \,p.  474. 

Explaining  S.  Matt.  xxiv.  23,  Behold  here  is  Christ,  &c., 
he  says :  "  Or  these  words  are  fulfilled  by  pointing  out,  not 
Christ,  but  some  imaginary  creature  of  the  same  name,  as,  for 
instance,  one  after  the  doctrine  of  Marcion,  or  the  traditions 
of  Yalentinus.  There  will  be  many  others  too  who  will  be 

1  Secundum  ea  qme  in  ecclesia  didicisti. 

2  Qui  contra  ecclesiasticam  fidem,  et  doctrinam  veritatis  insurgunt. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  29 

ready  to  say  to  the  disciples,  out  of  the  divine  Scriptures, 
adding  thereunto  their  own  peculiar  meaning :  Behold  here 

is  Christ But  as  often  as  they  bring  forward 

canonical  Scriptures,  in  which  every  Christian  agrees  and 
believes,  they  seem  to  say :  Behold  in  the  houses  is  the  word 
of  truth.  But  we  are  not  to  credit  them ;  nor  to  go  out 
from  the  first  and  the  ecclesiastical  tradition ;  nor  to  believe 
otherwise  than  according  as  the  churches  of  God  have  by 
succession  transmitted  to  us." l — T.  iii.  Series  Comment, 
(alii.  Tr.  29)  in  Matt.  n.  46,  p.  864.  See  also  the  first  ex 
tract  from  Origen  in  the  Section  (t  The  Church  the  Ex 
pounder  of  Scripture." 

"  The  truth  is  like  to  the  lightning  which  goeth  out  from 
the  east,  and  appeareth  even  into  the  west ;  such  is  the  truth 
of  the  Church  of  God ;  for  from  it  alone  the  sound  hath 
gone  forth  into  all  the  earth,  and  their  words  unto  the  ends 
of  the  world" — T.  iii.  Comment,  in  Matt.  (Trac.  30),  n. 
46,  p.  864. 

"  According,  then,  to  what  we  have  said,  they  who  teach 
the  "Word  according  to  the  Church,2  are  the  prophets  of  God. 
Whilst  they  who  preach  the  word  of  Marcion,  or  of  any  such, 
are  the  prophets  of  that  antichrist  that  is  according  to  Mar 
cion,  that  is,  of  that  falsehood  which  Marcion  introduced. 
.  .  .  The  same  say  also  of  the  preachers  of  each  one  of  the 
heresies.  .  .  .  We  are  not,  therefore,  to  give  heed  to  those 
who  say  Behold  here  is  Christ,  but  show  Him  not  in  the 
Church,  which  is  filled  with  brightness  from  the  east  even 
unto  the  west,  which  is  filled  with  true  light,  is  the  pillar  and 
ground  of  truth,  in  which,  as  a  whole,  is  the  whole  advent 
of  the  Son  of  Man,3  who  saith  to  all  men,  throughout  the 
universe,  i  Behold  I  am  with  you  all  the  days  of  life,  even 
unto  the  consummation  of  the  world.' '  —Ibid.  p.  865,  col.  2. 

1  Illis  credere  non  debemus,  nee  exire  a  prima  et  ecclesiastica  traditione, 
nee  aliter  credere  nisi  quemadmodum  per  successionem  ecclesiae  Dei  tradi- 
derunt  nobis. 

2  Qui  ecclesiastice  decent. 

3  In  qua  tota  totus  est  adventus  Filii  hominis. 


30  AUTHORITY 

Origen's  system  cannot  be  better  understood  than  as  viewed 
in  his  celebrated  letter  to  Africanus,1  the  object  of  which  is 
to  show  that  it  is  the  authority  of  the  Church  that  decides 
on  the  canonicity  of  the  sacred  writings.  "  Your  letter,  from 
which  I  have  learned  what  is  your  opinion  concerning  the 
History  of  Susannah,  circulated  in  the  churches  in  the  Book 
of  Daniel,  seems  to  be  brief ;  but,  in  a  few  words,  it  contains 

many  points  for  solution Know,  therefore,  what  we 

ought  to  do, — not  merely  with  regard  to  what  relates  to 
Susannah,  which,  according  to  the  Greeks,  is  circulated  in 
Greek  throughout  the  whole  Church  of  Christ,  nor  as  regards, 
as  you  have  stated  the  case,  the  two  other  sections  which  are, 
at  the  end  of  the  Book  (of  Daniel),  written  about  Bel  and  the 
Dragon,  neither  of  which  is  written  in  the  Daniel  of  the 
Jews,  but  also  with  regard  to  countless  other  portions  of 
Scripture." a  (He  then  gives,  from  p.  13  to  p.  16,  examples 
from  Genesis,  Exodus,  Job,  &c.,  of  passages  found  in  the 
copies  used  in  the  churches,  but  omitted  in  the  Jewish  Scrip 
tures.)  "  It  is  time,  therefore,  unless  these  things  are  hidden 
from  us,  to  reject  the  copies  circulated  in  the  churches ;  and 
to  make  it  a  law,  for  the  brotherhood,  to  set  aside  the  sacred 
books  circulated  amongst  them,  and  to  flatter  and  persuade 
the  Jews,  in  order  that  they  may  communicate  them  to  us, 
pure  and  free  from  what  is  false.  Has  then  that  Providence 
which,  in  the  holy  writings,  has  given  edification  to  all  the 
churches  of  Christ,  had  no  care  of  those  who  have  been 
bought  with  a  price,  for  whom  Christ  died :  whom  though 
His  Son,  God,  who  is  charity,  spared  not,  but  delivered  Him 

1  This  letter  occupies  from  p.  12-30,  in  the  first  volume.  To  do  full  jus. 
tice  to  Origen's  argument,  the  whole  letter  ought  to  be  translated.  It  was 
occasioned  by  Origen's  having  quoted,  in  the  presence  of  Africanus,  the  his 
tory  of  Susannah,  as  canonical  Scripture.  Africanus,  in  a  letter  of  inquiry 
addressed  to  Origen,  endeavored  to  show,  by  eight  distinct  and  ingenious 
arguments,  that  this  was  not  its  character.  Of  these  arguments,  one  was, 
that  the  history  of  Susannah,  as  well  as  two  other  sections,  ascribed  to 
Daniel,  were  not  received  by  the  Jews.  To  this  objection  the  extracts  in  the 
text  principally  refer. 

2 '^4/lAa  nal  Ttepi  ahXaov  juvpi'oov 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  31 

up  for  us  al^  that,  with  Him,  He  might  give  us  all  things  ? 
Moreover,  consider  whether  it  is  not  good  to  bear  in  mind 
that  saying :  Thou  shalt  not  remove  the  everlasting  land 
marks  which  thy  forefathers  have  set"  (And  again  atjp.  26, 
n.  13).  "  The  Jews  do  not  use  the  Book  of  Tobias,  nor  that 
of  Judith,  for  they  have  not  them  even  in  their  apocrypha  in 
Hebrew,  as  I  have  learned  from  them  :  but  since  the  churches 
use  Tobias,  and  that  even  during  the  captivity,  &c."  * 

ST.  CYPRIAN,  L.  C.2 — "  Our  Lord,  whose  precepts  and  ad 
monitions  we  ought  to  observe,  settling  the  honor  of  a 
bishop  and  the  nature3  of  His  Church,  speaks  in  the  Gospel 
and  says  to  Peter,  /  say  to  thee  thou  art  Peter,  &c.  (St. 
Matt.  xvi.  18,  19).  Hence,  through  the  changes  of  times 
and  of  successions,  the  ordination  of  bishops  and  the  nature 
of  the  Church  flows  on  (runs  down),  so  as  that  the  Church 
is  settled  upon  the  bishops,  and  every  act  of  the  Church  is 
regulated  by  these  same  prelates.  Since  then  this  has  been 
established  by  a  divine  law,4  I  wonder  that  some  should 
have  had  the  bold  temerity  so  to  write  to  me  as  to  pen  their 
letters  in  the  name  of  the  Church,  whereas  the  Church  con- 
sisteth  of  the  bishop  and  clergy,  and  of  all  those  who  have 
not  lapsed." — Ep.  xxvii.  Lapsis.  p.  89.  See  the  first  extract 
given  under  ' '  Unity, ' '  from  Ep.  xl. 

"  And  now  this  deserter  of  the  Church  and  renegade  (ISTova- 

1  There  are  very  many  isolated  passages  scattered  through  the  works  of 
Origen  which  deserve  notice.     The  following  are  a  few  specimens  :  "These 
things  are  heretical,  and  contrary  to  the  ecclesiastical  faith."— T.  i.  De  Prin- 
cip.  1.  i.  p.  69.     "This  is  alien  from  the  faith  of  the  Church."— T.  ii.  Horn. 
iii.  in  Genes,  n.  2,  p.  6.     See  also  ib.  Horn.  xvi.  in  Genes,  n.  4,  p.  104.    He 
calls  the  Church  "our  mother."— Ib.  Horn.  x.  in  Genes,  n.  1,  p.  86;  "  the  foot 
stool  of  God."— t.  i.  De  Orat.  n.  26,  p.  241  ;  "  the  paradise  of  delights."— t. 
iii.  1.  iii.  in  Cant.  Cantic.  p.  76. 

2  St.  Cyprian  was  born  in  Africa,  probably  at  Carthage.     The  year  of  his 
birth  is  not  known  ;  but  he  seems  to  have  been  converted  to  Christianity 
about  the  year  246;  and  to  have  been  ordained  and  consecrated  bishop  about 
the  year  248.     He  was  martyred  in  the  year  258.     The  edition  cited  is  the 
Bened.  Venet.  1728. 

3  Rationem. 

4  Ut  ecclesia  super  episcopos  constituatur,  et  omnis  actus  ecclesiae  per 
•eosdem  prsepositos  gubernetur.     Cum  hoc  itaque  divina  lege  fundatum  sit. 


32  AUTHORITY 

tian),  as  if  a  change  of  country  was  also  a  change  of  the  man, 
proclaims  and  vaunts  himself  a  confessor,  though  no  one  can 
either  have  that  title,  or  be  Christ's  confessor,  who  has  denied 
Christ's  Church.1  For  since  the  Apostle  Paul  says  :  '  For  this 
cause  shall  a  man  leave  father  and  mother,  and  they  shall  be 
two  in  one  flesh.  This  is  a  great  sacrament ;  but  I  speak 
concerning  Christ  and  the  Church  '  (Ephes.  v.) :  since,  I  say, 
the  Apostle  has  thus  declared  himself,  and  with  his  hallowed 
voice  bears  testimony  to  the  unity  of  Christ  and  the  Church,  (a 
unity)  cohering  with  indissoluble  bonds,  how  can  he  be  with 
Christ  who  is  not  with  Christ's  spouse,  and  in  His  Church  ?' 
Nor  should  any  one  wonder  at  this  procedure  in  such  men  (as 
Novatians).  Evil  men  are  ever  hurried  on  by  their  mad  pas 
sions,  and,  having  committed  crimes,  they  are  driven  on  by  the 
very  consciousness  of  a  guilty  mind.  Nor  can  they  remain  in 
the  Church  of  God,  who  have  neither  in  the  conversation  of 
their  lives,  nor  in  the  peaceableness  of  their  morals,  held  to 
the  deific  and  ecclesiastical  discipline.3  The  Lord  has  said  in 
His  Gospel :  '  Every  plant  which  my  heavenly  Father  hath 
not  planted  shall  be  rooted  up.'  (St.  Matt,  xv.)  He  who 
has  not  been  '  planted '  in  the  precepts  and  lessons  of  God  the 
Father,  he  alone  can  withdraw  from  the  Church ;  he  alone, 
the  bishops  abandoned,  remain  in  madness  with  schismatics 
and  heretics." — Ep.  xlix.  ad  Cornel,  pp.  142-144. 

"  As  to  Novatian,  dear  brother,  concerning  whom  you  have 
desired  me  to  write  you  word,  what  heresy  he  has  introduced, 
you  must  know,  in  the  first  place,  that  we  ought  not  to  be 
curious  as  to  what  he  teaches,  since  he  teaches  without  (the 
Church).  Whosoever  he  be,  and  whatsoever  he  be,  he  is  no 
Christian  who  is  not  in  Christ's  Church.4  Let  him  vaunt  him- 

1  Christi  confessor  nee  dici  nee  esse  jam  possit,  qui  ecclesiam  Christi 
negavit. 

2  Christi  pariter  atque  ecclesiae  unitatera  individuis  nexibus  cohaerentem 
testatur,  quomodo  potest  esse  cum  Christo,  qui  cum  sponsa  Christi  atque  in 
ejus  ecclesia  non  est  ? 

3  Deificam  et  ecclesiasticam. 

4  Quisquis  ille  est,  et  qualiscunque  eet,  Christianus  non  est,  qui  in  Christi 
ecclesia  non  est. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  33 

self,  and  preach  up  his  philosophy  and  his  eloquence  with 
proud  words,  he  who  has  neither  held  to  brotherly  love,  nor  to 
ecclesiastical  unity,  has  lost  also  what  he  before  was.  Unless, 
may  be,  he  seem  to  you  to  be  a  bishop,  who,  when  a  bishop  had 
been  made  in  the  Church  by  sixteen  fellow-bishops,  strives,  by 
canvassing,  to  be  made,  by  renegades,  an  adulterous  and  ex 
traneous  bishop.  And  whereas  there  is,  from  Christ,  one 
Church  divided  throughout  the  whole  world  into  many  mem 
bers  ;  as  also  one  episcopate,  diffused  throughout  an  harmo 
nious  multitude  of  many  bishops  ;x  that  man  (Novatian),  not 
withstanding  God's  tradition,  notwithstanding  the  unity  of  the 
Catholic  Church  everywhere  compacted  and  conjoined,  strives 
to  make  a  human  church,  and  sends  his  new  apostles  through 
divers  cities,  in  order  to  lay  certain  new  foundations  of  his 
own  institution ;  and  though  there  have  long  since  been  or 
dained,  throughout  all  the  provinces  and  in  each  city,  bishops, 
men  advanced  in  age,  sound  in  faith,  tried  in  difficulties,  pro 
scribed  during  the  persecution,  he  dares  to  create  other  false 
bishops  over  them,  as  if  he  would  traverse  the  whole  world  in 
the  obstinacy  of  his  new  attempt,  or  tear  asunder  the  linked 
union  of  the  ecclesiastical  body  by  scattering  the  seeds  of  his 
discord ;  not  knowing  that  schismatics  always  burn  with  zeal 
at  the  outset,  but  that  what  they  began  unlawfully  cannot  have 
increase  or  extension,  but  at  once  falls  away  with  its  guilty 
rivalry.  But  he  could  not  hold  the  episcopate,  even  though 
he  had  been  made  bishop  before  Cornelius,  since  he  has  fallen 
away  from  the  body  of  his  co-bishops,  and  from  the  unity  of 
the  Church ;  for  the  Apostle  admonishes  us  mutually  to  support 
each  other,  for  fear  lest  we  recede  from  the  unity  which  God 
has  appointed,  and  says  :  Supporting  one  another  in  charity, 
careful  to  keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace. 
(Ephes.  iv.  2,  3.)  He,  therefore,  that  neither  keeps  the  Unity 
of  the  Spirit,  nor  the  bond  of  peace,  and  separates  himself 

1  Cum  sit  a  Christo  una  ecclesia  per  totum  mundum  in  multa  membra 
divisa,  item  episcopatus  unus  episcoporum  multorum  concordi  numerositate 
diffusus. 


34  AUTHORITY 

from  the  bond  of  the  Church,  and  from  the  college  of  presby 
ters,  can  neither  have  the  power,  nor  the  honor  of  a  bishop, 
who  chose  neither  to  hold  to  the  unity,  nor  the  peace,  of  the 
episcopacy.  And  then  what  swelling  pride  is  it,  what  forget- 
fulness  of  humility  and  meekness,  what  a  frowrard  act  of  arro 
gance  that  any  one  should  dare,  or  believe  that  he  can,  do  what 
the  Lord  did  not  even  grant  to  the  Apostles,  think  that  he  can 
separate  the  tares  from  the  wheat,  or  separate  the  chaff  from 
the  corn,  as  if  it  had  been  given  to  him  to  carry  the  fan,  and  to 
cleanse  the  thrashing-floor.  And  whereas  the  Apostle  says  :  In 
a  great  house  there  are  not  only  vessels  of  gold  and  of  silver, 
but  of  wood  and  of  earth,  he  would  seem  to  pick  out  the  ves 
sels  of  gold  and  of  silver,  and  to  despise  and  cast  aside  and 
condemn  those  of  wood  and  of  earth,  when  only  in  the  day  of 
the  Lord  will  the  vessels  of  wood  be  burnt  with  the  fire  of  the 
divine  wrath,  and  the  vesseh  of  clay  be  broken  by  Him  to 
whom  has  been  given  the  rod  of  iron." — Ep.  Hi.  ad  Anto- 
nianum,pp.  156,  157. 

After  citing  several  passages,  both  from  the  Old  and  New 
Testament,  and  amongst  the  rest  St.  Luke  x.  16,  He  that 
heareth  you,  heareth  me,  &c.,  he  continues  : — "  There  being 
these  numerous,  weighty,  and  many  other  such  examples  as 
precedents,  whereby  God  has  condescended  to  confirm  the 
sacerdotal  authority  and  power,  what  kind  of  men,  thinkest 
them,  are  they,  who,  enemies  of  the  priesthood,  and  rebels 
against  the  Catholic  Church,  are  neither  scared  by  the  Lord's 
forewarning  threats,  nor  by  the  vengeance  of  a  future  judg 
ment  ?  For  neither  have  heresies  sprung  up,  nor  schisms  been 
engendered,  from  other  source  than  this,  that  obedience  is  not 
paid  to  the  priest  of  God,  nor  attention  given  to  this,  that  there 
is  but  one  priest  at  a  time  in  a  church,  and  who  for  the  time 
is  judge  in  Christ's  stead,  whom,  if  the  brotherhood  would, 
according  to  the  divine  commands,  obey,1  no  one  would  stir 

1  Quod  sacerdoti  Dei  non  obtemperatur,  nee  unus  in  ecclesia  ad  tempus 
sacerdos,  et  ad  tempus  judex  vice  Christi  cogitatur,  cui  si  secundum  magis- 
teria  divina  obtemperaret  fraternitas. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  35 

anything  in  opposition  to  the  college  of  priests  ;  no  one  would, 
after  the  divine  sanction,  after  the  suffrage  of  the  people,  after 
the  consent  of  the  fellow-bishops,  make  himself  a  judge,  not 
now  merely  of  a  bishop,  but  of  God  ;l  no  one  would,  by  a 
breach  of  unity,  tear  in  pieces  Christ's  Church  ;  no  one,  pleas 
ing  himself  and  swelling  with  pride,  would  found  a  new  heresy 
apart  and  without  (the  Church) :  unless  there  be  a  man  of  so 
sacrilegious  rashness  and  abandoned  a  mind,  as  to  think  that  a 
priest  is  made  without  the  judgment  of  God." — Ep.  Iv.  ad 
Cornelium,  pp.  177,  178. 

"  Nor,  indeed,  because  a  few  rash  and  wicked  men  abandon 
the  heavenly  and  saving  ways  of  the  Lord,  and  not  doing  what 
is  holy,  are  forsaken  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  ought  we,  therefore, 
to  be  so  unmindful  of  the  divine  tradition,  as  to  account  the 
crimes  of  these  enthusiasts  of  greater  weight  than  the  judg 
ments  of  the  priests,  or  fancy  that  human  efforts  avail  more  to 
attack,  than  the  divine  guardianship  to  protect.  Is  then  the 
dignity  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  the  faithful  and  uncor- 
rupted  majesty  of  the  people  within  her,  and  the  priestly  au 
thority,  too,  and  power,  to  be  laid  down  for  this,  that  men  who 
are  set  without  the  Church  may  tell  us  they  wish  to  judge  a 
prelate  of  the  Church  ? a  heretics  (pass  judgment)  on  a  Chris 
tian  ?  The  wounded  on  the  sound !  the  maimed  on  the  unin 
jured  !  the  fallen  on  him  that  stands  firm  !  the  guilty  on  the 
judge  !  the  sacrilegious  on  a  priest !" — Ibid.  pp.  184,  185. 

"Since  Novatian,  whom  this  man  (Marcianus,  Bishop  of 
Aries)  follows,  has  been  long  ago  excommunicated,  and  judged 
an  enemy  to  the  Church, — who,  when  he  sent  his  agents  to 
us  in  Africa,  desiring  to  be  admitted  into  communion  with  us, 
carried  back  hence  from  a  numerous  council  of  priests,  who 
were  then  assembled,  this  sentence,  that  he  had  begun  to  be 
without,  nor  could  any  of  us  be  in  communion  with  him,  who, 
when  Cornelius  had  been,  by  the  judgment  of  God,  and  the 


tuti. 


1  Judicem  se  jam  non  episcopi,  sed  Dei  faceret. 

2  Ut  judicare  velle  se  dicant  de  ecclesiae  praeposito  extra  ecclesiam  consti- 


.36  AUTHORITY 

suffrage  of  the  clergy  and  people,  ordained  bishop  in  the  Catho 
lic  Church,  had  attempted  to  erect  a  profane  altar,  to  set  up  an 
adulterous  chair,  and  to  offer  sacrilegious  sacrifices  in  opposi 
tion  to  the  true  priest,  and  that,  therefore,  if  he  wished  to  re 
pent,  and  to  return  to  a  wholesome  feeling,  lie  should  do  peni 
tence,  and  return  as  a  suppliant  to  the  Church, — how  idle  is  it, 
that  after  Novatian  has  been  repulsed,  and  cast  back,  and  ex 
communicated,  throughout  the  whole  world,  by  the  priests  of 
God,  still  to  suffer  his  flatterers  now  to  mock  us,  and  to  pass 
judgment  on  the  majesty  and  dignity  of  the  Church.1  .... 

"  For  this  cause  is  the  numerous  body  of  priests  knit  together 
with  the  glue  of  mutual  concord,  and  the  bond  of  unity,  that 
if  any  of  our  college  should  attempt  to  create  a  heresy,  and  to 
rend  and  lay  waste  the  flock  of  Christ,  the  rest  may  come  in 
aid,  and,  like  useful  and  merciful  shepherds,  gather  into  (one) 

flock  the  Lord's  sheep 

"  For  although  we  are  many  shepherds,  yet  do  we  feed  but  one 
flock  ;a  and  we  ought  to  gather  together  and  to  cherish  all  the 
sheep  which,  with  His  blood  and  passion,  Christ  sought.  .  .  . 
The  Lord  declares  those  men  execrable  and  abominable  who 
please  themselves,3  who,  swollen  and  inflated,  arrogantly  as 
sume  something  to  themselves.  Of  which  number  since  Mar- 
cianus  has  begun  to  be,  and,  uniting  himself  to  Novatian, 
stands  forth  the  enemy  of  mercy  and  piety,  let  him  not  give, 
but  receive  sentence ;  nor  so  act  as  if  it  were  he  that  had 
judged  the  college  of  priests,  whereas  he  himself  has  been 
judged  by  the  whole  priesthood.  The  glory  and  honor  of  our 
predecessors,  the  blessed  martyrs  Cornelius  and  Lucius,  ought 
to  be  guarded ;  whose  memory  whilst  we  honor,  much  more 
ought  you,  by  your  weight  and  authority,  to  honor  and  guard 
it,  who  have  been  made  the  vicar  and  successor  of  them."  * — 
Ep.  Ixvii.  adStephanum,pp.  248-250.  See  other  passages  un- 

1  De  majestate  ac  dignitate  ecclesiae  judicare. 

2  Etsi  pastores  multi  sumus,  unum  tamen  gregem  pascimus. 

3  Qui  sibi  placeant. 

*  Vicarius  (in  their  stead)  et  successor  eorum. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  37 

der  "  Unity,"  &c.,  especially  Ep.  Ixxiii.  ad  Jubai.  and  Ep. 
Ixxvi.  ad  Magnum. 

"  The  spouse  of  Christ  cannot  become  adulterate  ;*  she  is 
undefiled  and  chaste.  She  owns  but  one  home  ;  with  spotless 
purity,  she  guards  the  sanctity  of  one  chamber.  She  keeps  us 
for  God ;  she  appoints  unto  the  kingdom  the  sons  that  she  has 
borne.  Whosoever,  having  separated  from  the  Church,  is 
joined  to  an  adulteress,  he  is  cut  off  from  the  promises  of  the 
Church.  Neither  shall  he  come  unto  the  rewards  of  Christ 
who  leaves  the  Church  of  Christ.  He  is  an  alien,  he  is  an 
outcast,  he  is  an  enemy.  He  can  no  longer  have  God  for  a 
father,  who  has  not  the  Church  for  a  mother." '  — De  Unitate, 
p.  397.  For  the  continuation,  see  under  the  head  "  Unity," 
where  nearly  the  whole  of  this  tract  will  be  found,  a  great 
part  of  which  applies  directly  to  the  question  before  us. 

ANONYMOUS,  L.  C.3 — "A  question,  I  perceive,  has  arisen 
amongst  the  brethren,  as  to  what  had  better  be  done  with 
those  persons  who  have  been  baptized,  in  heresy  indeed,  but 
still  in  the  name  of  our  God  Jesus  Christ ;  whether,  accord 
ing  to  a  very  ancient  custom  and  tradition  of  the  Church, 
it  would  be  enough  for  hands  to  be  imposed  on  them  by  a 
bishop,  that  they  may  receive  the  Holy  Ghost.  ...  In  a 
question  of  this  kind,  in  my  opinion,  no  controversy  or  dis 
pute  could  possibly  have  arisen,  if  each  of  us,  content  with 
the  venerable  authority  of  all  the  churches,4  and  with  needful 
humility,  were  solicitous  to  make  no  innovation ;  as  he  would 
see  that  there  is  no  room  for  contrariety  of  opinion.  For 
everything  whatsoever  that  is  doubtful  and  ambiguous,  and  is 

1  Adulterari  non  potest  sponsa  Christi. 

9  Habere  jam  non  potest  Deum  patrem  qui  ecclesiam  non  habet  matrem. 

3  It  is  not  known  with  certainty  who  is  the  author  of  the  treatise  De  Re- 
baptismate.     Baluzius  inclines  to  Ursinus,  an  African  monk,  who  flourished, 
according  to  Gennadius,  towards  the  end  of  the  fourth  century.     Cave  and 
others  assign  an  earlier  date  to  it,  and  there  seems  internal  evidence  suffi 
cient  to  show  that  it  was  written  during  the  lifetime  of,  and  against  St. 
Cyprian.       The  date  affixed  by  Gallandius  is  254.     See  Proleg.  torn.  iii. 
Bib.  Vet.  PP. 

4  Contentus  venerabili  omnium  ecclesiarum  auctoritate. 


38  AUTHORITY 

based  on  the  divers  sentiments  of  prudent  and  faithful  men, 
if  it  be  adjudged  contrary  to  the  ancient  and  ever-to-be-re 
membered   and  most   solemn   observance   of   all   the   distin 
guished   saints   and   of   the   faithful,   ought  undoubtedly  to 
be  condemned;    since,  in   a   matter  long    since   settled   and 
ordered,  whatever  that  is  which  is  brought  forward  in  opposi 
tion  to  the  peace  and  quiet  of  the  Church,  will  bring  with  it 
nothing  but  disunion,  secret  hatred  and  schism  ;  from  which 
no   other  fruit  can  be  gathered   but  this,  that  one  man,  be 
he  who  he  may,  is,  with  empty  boasting,  vaunted  of,  amongst 
a  certain  number  of  unstable  men,  as  of  great  prudence  and 
firmness;  and  having   gained   the  wondering   admiration   of 
heretics,  whose  only  consolation  is  not  to  seem  alone  in  their 
sinfumess,  he  is  glorified  amongst  men  just  like  himself,  and 
fitting  compeers,  as   having  reformed  the  defects  of  all  the 
churches.1     For  this  is  the  study  and  aim  of  all  heretics,  to 
fasten  upon  our  holy  mother  the  Church  such  like,  and  as 
many  calumnies  as  possible ;  and  they  reckon  it  the  height 
of  glory  to  have  found  out  something,  be  it  ever  so  trifling, 
which  may  be  laid  to  her  charge  as  a  fault.     To  pursue  this 
conduct  is  unbecoming  in  any  of  the  faithful  of  sound  mind, 
and  the  attempt  is  especially  so  in  one  in  any  grade  of  the 
clergy,  and  more  so  still  in  any  bishop  :  it  is  a  kind  of  prodigy 
for  the  very  bishops  to  design  such  scandals ;  and  not  to  be 
ashamed,  contrary  to  the  injunction  of  the  law  and  of  all  the 
Scriptures,  to  bare,  with  sad  irreverence,  to  their  own  defile 
ment  and  peril,  the  nakedness  of  mother  Church,  even  if  such 
they  think  there  be  in  the  matter  in  hand,  although  in  all  this 
there  is  no  turpitude  attaches  to  the  Church,  except  from  the 
wanderings  of  these  very  men.     Wherefore,  the  crime  com 
mitted  by  these  men  is  more  flagrant,  if  what  is  reprehended 
by  them  as  not  rightly  done,  in  an  observance  of  very  great 
antiquity,  be,  both  by  those  who  have  gone  before  us  and  by 
us,  clearly  and  powerfully  shown  to  have  been,  and  to  be,  still 
rightly  complied  with ;  so  that,  even  though  the  arguments  on 
1  Vitia  universarum  ecclesiarum  correxisse  celebretur. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  3D 

either  side  were  of  equal  weight,  yet  as  the  innovation  could 
not  possibly  be  established  without  dissensions  amongst  the 
brethren,  and  evil  to  the  Church,  assuredly  there  ought  not, 
right  or  wrong,  as  the  saying  is,  that  is  against  all  goodness 
and  equity,  a  stain,  so  to  speak,  be  cast  on  mother  Church ; 
and  the  ignominy  of  such  presumption  should  be  fastened  on 
those  who  make  the  attempt." — Anonym,  de  Rebaptlsm.  Int. 
op.  8.  Cypr.pp.  629,  630. 

APOSTOLICAL  CONSTITUTIONS,  G.  C.1 — "  Endeavor,  O  bishop, 
to  be  pure  in  thy  actions,  understanding  thy  place  and  dignity  : 
which  is  that  of  one  sustaining  the  image  of  God  among  men, 
being  set  over2  all  men,  over  priests,  kings,  rulers,  fathers, 
children,  masters,  and  in  general  over  all  those  who  are  sub 
ject  to  thee."— Const.  Apostol.  I.  ii.  c.  xi. ;  Galland.  t.  iii. 
Bib.  Vet.  PP.  Yenet.  1765. 

"  Let  then  the  layman  honor  the  good  shepherd,  love  him 
and  fear  him  as  his  lord,  as  his  master,  as  the  high-priest  of 
God,  as  the  teacher  of  piety.  For  he  who  hears  him,  hears 
Christ,  and  he  who  despises  him,  despises  Christ,  and  he  who 
receives  not  Christ,  receives  not  his  God  and  Father.  For  He 
has  said,  '  He  that  heareth  you,  heareth  me,  and  he  that  de- 
spiseth  you,  despiseth  me,  and  he  that  despiseth  me  despiseth 
Him  that  sent  me.'  r  —Hid.  1.  ii.  c.  xx. 

"  The  bishop ;  he  is  the  minister  of  the  word,  the  keeper 
of  knowledge,  the  mediator  between  God  and  you  in  those 
things  which  pertain  to  His  worship ;  lie  is  the  teacher  of 
piety ;  he  is,  after  God,  your  father,  who  has  regenerated  you 
by  water  and  the  Spirit  unto  the  adoption  of  sons.  He  is 
your  ruler,  and  he  is  your  king  and  potentate ;  he  is,  next 
after  God,  your  earthly  God,3  who  has  a  right  to  receive 

1  Of  the  value,  antiquity,  and  character  of  this  work  it  would  be  useless 
to  say  anything,  after  the  volumes  that  have  been  written  concerning  it. 
Gallandius  assigns  the  year  230  as  the  date  of  its  first  appearance  in  its  pre 
sent  form ;  but  I  have  thought  it  right  to  consider  it  as  evidence  of  a  period 
somewhat  later  than  the  middle  of  the  third  century. 

2  '£1$  QEOV  Tvnov  S'XGOV  EV  dvQpGOTtoiS,  apxEiv. 

3  OvroS  vn&v  ErtiyEioS  fooS  iisrd  Bsor.     For  similar  forms  of  expres 
sion,  in  the  writings  of  the  Fathers,  see  Coteler.  not.  in  loco,  t.  i.  PP.  Apostol. 


4Q  AUTHORITY 

honor  from  you ;  for  of  him,  and  of  such  as  he,  God  has  said, 
«  I  have  said  ye  are  gods,  and  all  of  you  sons  of  the  Most 
(Ps.  Ixxxi.  6);  'and  you  shall  not  speak  evil  of  the  gods 
(Exod  xxii.  28).     For  let  the  bishop  preside  over  you,  as  one 
honored  with  the  dignity  of  God,  with  which  he  rules  the 
clergy,  and  governs  all  the  people."-/^.  L  ii.  c.  26. 
also  1.  ii.  c.  29,  30. 

ST.  METHODIUS,  G.  C.1— « The  woman  that  appeared 
heaven  clothed  with  the  sun,  having  a  crown  of  twelve  stars, 
at  whose  feet  the  moon  has  her  resting  place,  and  who  is  tra 
vailing  and  in  pain  to  be  delivered,  she  in  sooth,  in  strictness 
of  speech,  is  our  mother,  O  virgins ;  a  power  she  of  her 
self,  distinct  from  her  children  ;  she  whom  the  prophets  have 
called,  according  to  the  scope  of  what  they  set  before  us,  at 
one  time,  Jerusalem  ;  at  another,  the  spouse  ;  now  the  moun 
tain  of  Sion ;  and  again  the  temple  and  tabernacle  of  God. 
For  that  power  which,  as  in  the  prophet,  eagerly  sought  to  be 
illuminated,  the  Spirit  crying  to  her,  <  Be  enlightened,  O  Je 
rusalem,  for  thy  light  is  come,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  shall 
be  seen  upon  thee,'  &c.  (Is.  Ix.  1-4)  is  the  Church,  whose 
children,  after  the  resurrection,  hastening  unto  her  in  crowds, 
from  every  quarter  will  press  to  her :  and  having  received  a 
light  that  knows  no  setting,  is  clothed  as  with  a  garment,  and 

gladdened  with  the  brightness  of  the  Word Behold  the 

mighty  woman,  a  pure  and  spotless  and  abiding  beauty,  scat 
tering  around  her  a  brightness  nowise  inferior  to  that  of  the 
rays  of  light." — Conviv.  Virg.  Orat.  viii.  n.  5,  j?.  717.  Gal- 
land.  T.  iii.  Bibl.  Vet.  PP.  For  a  similar  passage  on 
Ephes.  v.  25,  see  Hid.  or.  iii.  n.  S,p.  688,  ap.  Combefis,p.  81. 
ST.  PAMPHILUS,  G.  C.2 — The  following  extract  is  the  one 

1  Bishop  of  Tyre,  was  martyred  about  the  year  311.    The  edition  of  his 
works  here  followed  is  that  given  by  Gallandius,  t.  iii.  Bib.  Vet.  Pair. 

2  Priest  and  martyr.      He  was  born  in  Caesarea  of  Palestine,  about  the 
middle  of  the  third  century.      His  apology  for  Origen  was  composed  whilst 
he  was  imprisoned;  only  a  portion  of  it  remains  in  a  translation  by  Rufinus. 
St.  Jerome  is  well  known  to  have  denied  St.  Pamphilus  to  have  been  the 
author  of  this  treatise,  but  he  seems  to  have  been  mistaken.     This  question 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  41 

referred'  to  at  p.  27,  note  2,  when  citing  Origen  : — "  These 
remarks  (he  alludes  to  the  extract  referred  to)  are  made  by 
Origen,  towards  the  beginning  of  the  first  book  Ttepi  dpxoov, 
to  show  what  has  been  manifestly  handed  down  in  the  public 
teaching  of  the  Church,  and  what  has  not  been  clearly  defined. 
On  each  of  the  above-named  points,  he,  in  various  places,  in 
his  other  books,  argues  according  to  the  distinction  which  he 
had  already  pointed  out ;  maintaining  more  manifestly  and 
firmly,  with  every  species  of  proof,  out  of  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
the  things  which  he  had  already  proclaimed  as  being  taught  by 
the  Church  as  defined  ;'  whilst,  with  regard  to  those  things  of 
which  he  shows  that  they  are  not  taught  manifestly  and  as 
defined  in  the  Church,  he  rather  puts  forth  opinions,  and  such 
meanings  as  might  occur  to  him  in  the  course  of  his  reasoning 
and  treating  on  such  subjects,  than  anything  like  certain  and 
definite  propositions ;  discussing,  that  is,  and  treating  of  them 
thoroughly,  rather  than  affirming  anything.  But,  in  every 
case,  he  bears  in  mind  his  own  declaration — the  one  made 
above,  wherein  he  says  that  that  alone  is  to  be  received  and 
believed  as  truth,  which  in  nothing  is  opposed  to  the  apostoli 
cal  and  ecclesiastical  dogmas.  And  this  he  does,  not  only  in 
the  above-named  books,  but,  in  all  his  expositions  of  the  Scrip 
tures,  it  is  his  wont  to  adhere  to  this  declaration  ;  and  in  those 
especially  in  which  he  gives  various  expositions  of  the  same 
portion  of  Scripture  ;  affirming,  that  he  had,  to  the  best  of  his 
comprehension,  adduced  many,  even  opposite,  remarks,  for 
fear  of  omitting  anything  that  might  be  said ;  but  that  that 
was  to  be  held  to,  which  the  apostolical  and  ecclesiastical  reader 
might  approve  of.  He  does  the  very  same  thing  when  discuss 
ing  the  sects  of  the  heretics ;  after  confuting  and  convicting 
each  of  which,  he  holds  to  the  one  only  Catholic  sentiment  of 
truth,  and  that  the  one  which  he  has  explained  above." — 

is  ably  treated  by  De  la  Rue,  T.  iv.  Op.  Orig.  That  edition  is  here  used. 
Gallandius  gives  the  Apology  with  another  piece  published  by  Fabricius,  T. 
iv.  Bib.  Vet.  Pair. 

1  Ex  definite  praedicari  ab  ecclesia. 


42  AUTHORITY 

Published  in  the  4th  vol.  of  Origerfs  Works,  p.  21,  col.  2 ; 
also  in  Gallandius,  T.  iv. 

In  the  same  treatise  we  meet  with  a  similar  passage.  "  Ori- 
gen.  There  are  also  certain  other  dogmas  which  are  not  found 
in  the  apostolical  traditions ;  respecting  which  (dogmas)  you 
will  ask  whether  we  ought  to  reckon  as  heretics  those  who 
have  an  opinion,  and  treat  on  those  subjects.  Thus,  to  give  an 
example,  if  any  one  should  inquire  into  the  cause  (origin)  of 
the  soul,  though  the  ecclesiastical  rule  has  not  handed  down 
whether  the  soul  be  propagated  from  the  parent,  or  whether 
it  be  prior  to,  and  more  deserving  of  honor  than,  the  body. 
Whence,  many  persons  have  not  been  able  to  understand  what 
opinion  they  ought  to  hold  on  the  cause  of  the  soul ;  whilst 
they  who  have  been  observed  to  have  an  opinion,  or  to  debate 
the  matter,  are  by  some  suspected  as  if  they  were  introducing 
some  novelty.  .  .  ." 

"  Pamphilus.— Thus  writes  Origen,  in  the  work  named 
above,  (Comm.  in  Ep.  ad  Titum,  T.  iv.p.  696) ;  but,  to  what 
he  says,  we  add  these  remarks,  which  justice  requires  at  our 
hands.  If  the  Church  manifestly  handed  down,  or  taught  the 
opposite  to  what  he  held,  he  would  undoubtedly  be  deservedly 
censured  as  contravening  and  resisting  the  decrees  of  the 
Church.1  But  now  when  there  is  a  difference  amongst  the 
members  of  the  Church,  and  some  hold  one  opinion  and  some 
another,  and  all  different,  on  the  soul,  why  is  he  to  be  more 
blamed  than  the  rest  ?  (The  apologist  then  gives  the  various 
opinions  held  on  the  origin  of  the  soul,  and  continues,  in  the 
next  page,  as  follows:)  But  what  do  we  wish  to  prove  from 
all  these  statements  ?  undoubtedly  this  :  that  as  no  one  could, 
with  justice,  pronounce  those  to  be  heretics  who  hold  as  true 
any  of  the  opinions  enumerated  above,  in  as  much  as  there 
does  not  seem  to  be  anything  certain,  or  manifestly  declared, 
respecting  them,  either  in  the  divine  Scriptures,  or  contained 

1  Si  manifeste  ecclesia  traderet  vel  praedicaret  contraria  his  qua?  ille 
sensit,  sine  dubio  velut  contrarius  et  resistens  statutis  ecclesiasticis  medt6 
culparetur. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  43 

in  the  public  teaching  of  the  Church,1  so  neither  is  it  just  for 
this  man  to  be  censured,  when  delivering  his  opinion ;  espe 
cially  when  he  has  carefully  guarded  what  ought  to  be  by  all 
means  preserved  in  the  Church,  relative  to  the  profession  of 
faith  on  the  soul."— Inter  op.  Grig.  T.  iv.  c.  $,pp.  43,  44. 


CENTTJKY    IV. 


LACTANTIUS,  L.  C.2— "  As  many  heresies  have  sprung  up, 
and  as,  by  the  instigation  of  demons,  the  people  of  God  has 
been  divided,  truth  is  by  us  briefly  to  be  defined,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  be  placed  in  its  own  proper  dwelling  place  ;  that 
so  if  any  one  desire  to  draw  the  water  of  life,  he  may  not  be 
carried  to  broken  cisterns  that  hold  no  water,  but  become  ac 
quainted  with  the  most  bountiful  fountain  of  God,  watered  by 
which  he  may  possess  perennial  life.  It  behooves  us,  then,  first 
of  all,  to  know  that  both  Himself  and  His  ambassadors  fore 
told  that  many  sects  and  heresies  would  have  existence,  and 
sever  the  concord  of  the  holy  body,  and  warned  us  to  use  the 
utmost  prudence  and  care,  for  fear  lest  we  might  at  any  time 
fall  into  the  snares  and  wiles  of  that  adversary  with  whom 
it  is  God's  will  that  we  should  wrestle.  .  .  .  Some  of  ours 
there  have  been,  either  less  settled  in  faith,  or  less  learned,  or 
less  prudent,  who  have  caused  a  breach  in  unity,  and  disunited 
the  Church.  .  .  .  Whilst  some  there  have  been,  not  learned 
enough  in  the  heavenly  writings,  who,  unable  to  reply  to  their 
opponents,  when  they  objected  that  it  was  both  impossible  and 
unbecoming  that  God  should  be  enclosed  within  a  woman's 
womb  .  .  .  have  been  perverted  from  the  right  path,  and 
have  corrupted  the  heavenly  writings,  so  far  as  to  fashion  for 
themselves  a  new  doctrine  without  any  root  or  firmness  :  whilst 
some,  enticed  away  by  the  predictions  of  false  prophets,  who 

1  Pro  eo  quod  neque  ex  divinis  scripturis  certi  aliquid  de  his  vel  mani 
fest!  dictum  esse  videatur,  neque  in  praedicatione  ecclesiastica  contineri. 

2  Lactantius,  probably  an  African  by  birth,  was  the  disciple  of  Arno- 
bius.    He  was  appointed  teacher  of  rhetoric  at  Nicomedia,  about  the  year 
290,  and  became  a  Christian  about  295.     He  died  about  330.     The  edition  of 
his  works  here  used  is  that  by  Lebrun  and  N.  L.  Dufresnoy,  Paris,  1748. 


44  AUTHORITY 

have  been,  both  by  Him  and  by  the  true  prophets,  foretold, 
have  fallen  away  from  God's  doctrine,  and  abandoned  the  true 
tradition.     But  all  these,  entangled  in  demoniacal  wiles  which 
they  ought  to  have  foreseen,  and  to  have  guarded  against,  have, 
by  their  imprudence,  lost  the  divine  name  and  worship.     For 
whereas  they  are  called  Phrygians  or  Novatians,  or  Valenti- 
nians,  or  Marcionites,  or  Anthropians  (Arians),  or  other  such, 
they  ceased  to  be  Christians,  who,  having  lost  the  name  of 
Christ,  assumed  human  and  extraneous  titles.     The  Catholic 
Church  is  therefore  the  only  one  that  retains  the  true  worship. 
This   is  the    source  of    truth;     this    the    dwelling-place   of 
faith ;  this  the  temple  of  God,  which  whosoever  enters  not,  or 
from  which  whosoever  departs,  he  is  an  alien  from  the  hope  of 
life,  and  eternal  salvation.1     No  one  ought  to  flatter  himself  by 
means  of  obstinate   disputation ;  for  life  and  salvation  are  at 
stake,  which,  if  not  prudently  and  sedulously  looked  to,  are 
lost  and  utterly  destroyed.      But,  as  every  sect  of  heretics 
thinks  itself  above  every  other  Christian,  and  its  own  the 
Catholic  Church,  it  is  to  be  known  that  that  is  the  true  (Catho 
lic  Church)  wherein  are  confession  and  penitence,  which  whole 
somely  heal  the  wounds  and  sins  to  which  the  weakness  of  the 
flesh  is  subject.     Thus  much,  in  a  few  words,  have  I  set  down 
by  way  of  admonition,  lest  any  one  desirous  of  avoiding  error 
become  entangled  in  a  greater  error,  whilst  ignorant  of  the 
shrine  of  truth."  *—Divin.  Inst.  L.  iv.  c.  30. 

ST.  ALEXANDER  OF  ALEXANDRIA,  G.  C.8— "  These  Arians 
will  not  condescend  to  compare  any  of  the  ancients  with 
themselves ;  nor  endure  that  the  masters,  whom  we  have  used 
from  our  childhood,  be  equalled  with  them ;  nay,  they  do  not 

1  Sola  Catholica  ecclesia  est,  quae  verum  cultum  retinet.  Hie  est  fons 
ventatis,  hoc  domicilium  fidei,  quo  si  quis  non  intraverit,  vel  a  quo  si  quis 
exiverit,  a  spe  vitas  ac  salutis  aeternae  alienus  est. 

8  Dum  penetrale  veritatis  ignorat. 

3  He  succeeded  to  the  chair  of  Alexandria  about  the  year  312.  He  was 
the  first  to  resist  the  heresy  of  Arius,  whom  he  condemned,  and  against 
whose  novelties  he  wrote  numerous  letters  to  the  bishops  of  various  churches  • 
only  two  of  these  remain,  they  are  in  Labbe  Condi.  T.  ii.,  and  also  in  Oat- 
land.  T.  iv. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  45 

think  that  any  one  of  our  fellow-ministers  throughout  the 
whole  world  has  attained  to  any  measure  of  wisdom.  They 
alone  are  the  wise,  though  poor  in  everything  ;  and  declare 
themselves  the  discoverers  of  truths,  and  that  to  them  alone 
have  been  revealed  things  which  have  never  entered  even 
into  the  thoughts  of  any  one  else  under  the  sun.  Oh,  the 
unhallowed  pride  and  boundless  madness,  and  vain-glory  be 
fitting  their  atrabilious  spirit,  and  the  Satanic  arrogance,  that 
have  hardened  into  their  very  souls!  Neither  the  expla 
nation,  well-pleasing  unto  God,  of  the  ancient  Scripture,  has 
shamed  them,  nor  the  concordant  pious  doctrine  of  their  fel 
low-ministers  concerning  Christ  has  repressed  their  audacity 
against  Him,  wrhose  unhallowed  work  not  even  will  the  devils 
endure.  ...  Of  them  (Father  and  Son)  we  believe  as  it 
seems  right  to  the  Apostolic  Church.  .  .  .  (We  acknow 
ledge)  one  and  one  only  Catholic  and  apostolic  Church,  ever 
indeed  incapable  of  being  overthrown,  even  though  the 
whole  world  should  choose  to  war  against  it,  and  which  will 
conquer  every  most  unhallowed  opposition  of  the  heterodox, 
the  Master  of  the  household  Himself  having  made  us  con 
fident,  in  that  He  cried  out,1  Have  confidence,  I  have  over 
come  the  world  (John  xvi.  33).  —  [Having  explained  the 
Apostles'  Creed,  he  adds]  These  things  we  teach,  these  we 
proclaim,  these  are  the  apostolic  doctrines  of  the  Church,  for 
which  too  we  would  die."  —  Ep.  de  Arian.  Hceres.  Ldbbe,  t. 
\\.pp.  19-21,  and  Gotland,  t.  iv.pp.  447,  448. 


1  Ovde  77  T&V  6v\\.£.iTovpy<£)V  tivjucpoovo's  Ttepi  Xptdrov 
.  .  .  onokoyovii£v  .  .  .  niar  nai  /uovrjr  KaQoXiurfv  Trjv 
EHH\rj6iav  ,  dxaQaipsrov  fj.lv  del,  HQV  itdS  6  Ko6f.io$  avry  TtoXE/j.Eiv 
,  vinrjcpopov  de  TtdtirjS  rrj^  rear  frspoSo^aor  ddefiedrdrrjS 
vQaptiEtS  ij/ud$  KaTatiKEvdtiavroS  ro€  otnodetiTtorov 
y  did  TO  fioav.  Constantino's  words,  as  reported  by  Gelazius  Cyzi- 
cenus,  Histor.  Condi.  Nic.  c.  viii.  Labbe,  ii.  p.  167,  deserve  recording  :  — 
"God  hath  appointed  you  to  be  priests  and  princes  (archons),  both  to  judge 
the  people  and  determine  causes  (npivEiv  TE  ual  dianpivEiv  rd  rtXrfitf), 
and  as  being  more  excellent  than  all  other  men,  He  has  described  you  as 
Gods,  according  to  what  is  written,  1  have  said  ye  are  Gods,  and  all  sons  of 
the  Most  High  :  and  again,  God  hath  stood  in  the  congregation  of  Gods 
(Ps.  Ixxxi.)" 


46  AUTHORITY 

EUSEBIUS,  G.  C.1  —  "  I  will  at  the  same  time  add  to  the 
manifestation  of  these  things,  the  theology2  of  our  Saviour  ; 
having  nothing  indeed  to  say  that  is  freshly  discovered,  nor 
any  wise  thing  of  my  own,  and  that  is  my  own  discovery,  but 
shall  put  forward  the  uncorrupted  doctrine  of  the  Church  of 
God,  which  she,  having  received  it  from  above,  from  the 
beginning,  from  ear  and  eye  witnesses  of  the  Word,  still 
guards."3  —  In  Prowm.deEcdes.  Theol.  p.  60,  ed.  Colon.  1688. 

"  The  Church  of  God,  journeying  straight  in  the  right  and 
royal  road,  has  condemned  all  the  rest  as  by-paths,4  and  she 
transmits  to  her  votaries  the  knowledge  of  the  divine  grace, 
teaching,  in  the  very  mystery  of  regeneration,  to  confess  and 
believe  one  God  the  Father  Almighty,"  &c.  —  De  Ecdes. 
Theol.  1.  i.  c.  8,  p.  65. 

Into  Edom  will  I  stretch  out  my  shoe  (Ps.  cvii.  10).  .  .  . 
"  Again,  you  will  not  err  if  you  say  that  the  Apostles  are 
the  '  shoe,'  or  they  who  minister  the  Gospel  even  unto  this 
day.  .  .  .  lie  orders  His  disciples  to  evangelize  all  the  na 
tions  in  His  name.  Thus,  then,  even  unto  this  present  time,  the 
God  of  the  universe  prophesies,  that  He  will  dwell  in  His 
holy  place,  and  will  in  it,  and  through  it,  speak  to  men.6  .  .  . 
Who  will  bring  me  into  the  fortified  city  f  who  will  lead  me 

1  Eusebius,  surnaraed  Pamphilus,  was  appointed  bishop  of  Csesarea  in 
Palestine,  in  the  year  314.      lie  was  deeply  embroiled  in  the  Arian  contro 
versy.     He  died  about  the  year  339.      The  Historia  Ecclesiast.  cited  is  the 
edition  of  Valesius,  by  Reading,   Cantab.  1720.     The  Demomtratio  Evan- 
gelica,  with  various  treatises,  is  quoted  from  Ed.  Colon.  1688.     The  Prce- 
paratio  Evangelica  is  from  the  Paris  edition.  1628.     For  the  Psalms,  Isaias, 
&c.,     Montfaucon's    Nova    Collect  io    Pat  rum    Qrc&c.    Paris,    1707.       The 
Procem.  and  three  first  chapters  of  the  Demon.  Ev.  with  fourteen  smaller 
treatises,  are  from  Gallandius,  t.  iv.     Copious  additional  fragments  of  his 
Comm.  on  St.  Luke,  with  part  of  his  treatise  on  Easter,  are  in  Maii's  Nova 
Collect.  Vet.  Scrip.  Romas,  1825,  et  seqq.  t.  i. 

2  On  the  use  of  this  term,  see  note  to  St.  Justin,  under  "Invocation  of 
Saints." 


3  TijS  £KKkrj6ia<s  rov  Qsov  rrjv  ddidqfiopav  Sidadxakuir  7tpoi6x°- 
ijv  Ttapd  raov  avroTtrwv  nal  avrr/xoaov  rov  Xoyov,  avooQev  ££ 


4  Trjv  evQetav  nal  fta6i\.inrjv  odov  opOorojuovtia  TJ  kKH\r]6ia  rov 
enrpo 
avrov 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  47 

into  Edom  f  And  it  is  very  wonderful  that  God  is  spoken 
of  as  not  walking  with  naked  feet,  but  with  <  shoes,'  the  word 
indicating  the  souls  that  minister  to  His  will,  by  means  of 
whom,  having  completed  the  vocation  of  the  Gentiles,  He 
established  over  the  whole  earth  His  city,  I  mean  His 
Catholic  Church,  and  the  assembly  of  God-serving  men  ;  of 
which  city  it  is  elsewhere  said,  Glorious  things  are  said  of 
thee,  0  city  of  God.  (Ps.  Ixxxvi.  3.)  And,  The  stream  of 
the  river  maketh  the  city  of  God  joyful.  (Ps.  xlv.  5.)  This 
fortified  city,  therefore,  when  the  prophet  desired  to  behold, 
he  said,  Who  will  'bring  me  into  the  fortified  city  ?  or,  into 
the  city  fenced  round,  for  so  Symmaclms  interprets  :  for  the 
gates  and  doors  and  bolts  of  the  divine  powers  fence  it  round, 
that  it  may  not  suffer  any  devastation.  Therefore  did  the 
Saviour  say  concerning  it,  '  I  will  build  my  Church  upon  a 
rock,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it.' '  —  In 
Ps.  lix.  t.  l,pp-  282-284.— Nov.  Collect.  (Montfaucon)  Pair. 
Groec.  Paris.  1707. 

"  He  alone,  having  been  born  in  that  city,  settled  and  con 
firmed  '  The  city  of  God,'  that  is,  a  system  according  to  God, 
and  a  God-fearing  institution,  throughout  the  whole  universe, 
by  means  of  His  Catholic  Church,  which  is  settled  in  every 
place  and  country  and  city,1  to  which  we  ought  to  be  per 
suaded  that  the  saying  applies,  '  Glorious  things  are  said  of 
thee,  O  city  of  God ; '  and,  '  The  stream  of  the  river  maketh 
the  city  of  God  joyful,'  and  whatever  else  of  this  nature  is  set 
down  in  the  divine  Scriptures." — Cornm.  in  Ps.  Ixxxvi.  t.  i. 
p.  539  (Montfaucon),  Nov.  Collect.  PP.  Gr. 

Hosius,  G.  C.2— "When  did  Constantine  your  father  do 
anything  like  this  ?  What  bishop  did  he  banish  ?  When  did 
he  obtrude  himself  into  the  judgments  of  the  Church  ?  .  .  . 

1  Aid   TTJC,  ev  Ttavrl  tortm  nal  Ttddy  X&pa.,  KOCI  TtoXei  dwetfrcodyS 
avrov  Ha.^d\.iKYi^  £KKXrj6ia<3. 

2  Bishop  of  Cordova,  in  Spain.     He  was  born  in  the  year  256,  suffered 
for  the  faith,  and  was  present  at  the  Council  of  Nicaea.      He  died  at  a  very 
advanced  age,  about  the  year  358.      The  letter  cited  is  given  in  the  Bened. 
Ed.  St.  Athanas.  t.  i.,  and  in  Gallandius,  t.  v. 


43  AUTHORITY 

Cease,  I  beseech  thee,  and  remember  that  thou  art  a  mortal 
man.  Fear  the  day  of  judgment ;  keep  thyself  clean  against 
that  day.  Put  not  thyself  forward  into  ecclesiastical  matters, 
nor  be  thou  the  man  to  charge  us  in  these  matters  ;  rather 
learn  them  thyself  from  us.  In  thy  hands  God  has  placed 
the  kingly  power;  to  us  He  has  entrusted  the  things  of 
the  Church ;  and  as  he  who  deprives  thee  of  thy  rule,  op 
poses  God  who  has  thus  ordained,  so  fear  thou  lest,  draw 
ing  to  thyself  the  things  of  the  Church,  thou  fall  under  a 
grievous  accusation.  '  Render,'  it  is  written,  '  unto  Caesar, 
the  things  that  are  Caesar's,  and  to  God  the  things  that  are 
God's.'  It  is  therefore  neither  lawful  for  us  to  rule  over 
the  earth,  nor  hast  thou  power  to  offer  incense." — Ep.  ad 
Const,  op.  Athan.  in  Hist.  Arian.  n.  44,  t.  i.  p.  293,  ed. 
Bened.  Patav.  1777,  Galland.  t.  \.pp.  81,  82. 

ST.  HILARY  OF  POITIERS,  L.  C.1 — Explaining  S.  Matt.  xiiL 
1,  he  says:  "  The  reason  why  the  Lord  sat  in  the  ship,  and 
the  crowds  stood  without,  is  derived  from  the  things  that  lie 
under  these  circumstances.  For  He  was  about  to  speak  in 
parables  ;  and  by  this  kind  of  action  He  signifies,  that  they 
who  are  placed  without  the  Church,  cannot  attain  to  any 
understanding  of  the  divine  words.3  For  the  ship  exhibits 
a  type  of  the  Church,  the  word  of  life  placed  and  preached 
within  which,  they  who  are  without,  and  lie  near  like  barren 
and  useless  sands,  cannot  understand."3  —Comm.  in  Matt.  c. 
xiii.  n.  1,  t.  I,  p.  374. 

ST.  ATHANASIUS,  G.  C.4— "  But  let  us  nevertheless,  in  addi- 

1  St.  Hilary,  born  in  the  province  of  Aquitaine,  was  made  bishop  of 
Poitiers  about  the  year  355,  and  died  in  367.      He  was  the  firm  supporter 
of  St.   Athanasius.     The  edition  used  is  that  of  Ma/ei,   post-Benedict. 
Venet.  1749. 

2  Qui  extra  ecclesiam  positi  sunt,  nullam  divini  sermonis  capere  posse 
intelligentiam. 

3  Intra  quam  verbum  vitas  positum  et  praedicatum,  hi  qui  extra  sunt 
.  .  .  intelligere  non  possunt. 

4  St.  Athanasius  was  born   about   the  year  296.      He  was  present,  as 
assistant  to  St.  Alexander  of  Alexandria,  at  the  council  of  Nic«a.     In  the 
year  326  he  succeeded  St.  Alexander  in  his  patriarchal  see.     During  more 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  49 

tion  to  the  above,  see  the  tradition  which  is  from  the  begin 
ning,  and  the  doctrine  and  faith  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
which  the  Lord  indeed  communicated,  but  the  Apostles  pro 
claimed  and  the  fathers  guarded ;  for  on  this  has  the  Church 
been  founded,  and  he  who  falls  away  from  this,  would  not  be, 
nor  would  he  even  be  called,  a  Christian."1 — Ep.  i.  ad  Sera- 
pion.  n.  28,  t.  1,^.540,  ed.  Ben.  Patav.  1777. 

"  They  (the  fathers  at  Nicsea)  wrote  indeed  respecting  Eas 
ter,  *  It  has  seemed  good,  as  follows,'  for  it  did  then  seem 
good  that  there  should  be  a  general  compliance ;  but  as  re 
gards  the  faith,  they  wrote  not,  '  It  has  seemed  good,'  but, 
'  Thus  believes  the  Catholic  Church,"  and  at  once  confessed 
how  they  believed,  thereby  to  show  that  their  sentiment  was 
not  novel,  but  apostolical,  and  that  what  they  wrote  down  was 
not  a  discovery  of  their  own,  but  the  same  as  the  Apostles  had 
taught." — De  Synodis,  n.  5,  t.  i.  jp.  575.  For  the  context,  see 
"  Indef edibility." 

"  It  is  enough  to  give  this  only  for  answer  to  these  things 
(asserted  by  the  Arians),  and  to  say,  '  These  things  are  not  of 
the  Catholic  Church,  neither  did  the  fathers  think  thus."- 
Ep.  ad  Epictet.  n.  3,^?.  722,  t.  I.3 

than  forty  years  he  was  the  champion  of  orthodoxy,  and  suffered  much 
severe  persecution  from  the  Arian  party.  He  died  about  the  year  372.  The 
edition  of  his  works  cited  is  the  Bened.  (Lopinus  and  Montfaucon),  Patav. 
1777. 

l"I8Gou.Ev  dyuoSs  Hal  OLVT^V  Trfv  £|  dpx^  Ttapd8o6iv  nai  8t8a6HOt\iav 
yta.1  TtiGmv  TTJS  KaQofaKqS  £KK\r}6ia$  qv  6  nkv  nvpioS  ed&xsv,  oi  8£ 
CLitoGTokoi  Enripv^av,  Hal  oi  TtdrEpES  EcpvXa^ov,  EY  ravry  ydp  rf  EKK\.TJ- 
6ia  TEQE/uE^iGorait  nai  6  ravrij^  kmtiitTGOVy  OVT>  av  SIT?,  ovr1  av  tin 
Xeyoiro  XpttinaroS. 

9  Ovraos  ititirevei  fj  KaBoTiix^  kuyckr]6ia. 

3  The  following  incidental  phrases  which  occur  in  the  writings  of  St. 
Athanasius,  deserve  notice  :  "  They,  too,  of  the  heresies  have  fallen  away 
from  the  ecclesiastical  teaching  (EmtEtiovTES  rrfS  kHKXrj^ia^riHtj's  8i8a<5Ha- 
Az'aS),  and  have  made  shipwreck  of  the  faith." — Orat.  contra  Gentes,  n.  6, 
t.  i.p.  5.  Ibid.  n.  l,p.  5 ;  n.  33,  p.  25.  "Our  fathers  then  formed  an  oecume 
nical  synod,  and  having  assembled  to  the  number  of  three  hundred,  more 
or  less,  condemned  the  Arian  heresy,  and  all  declared  it  to  be  alien  and 
foreign  to  the  faith  of  the  Church  (aT^Xorpiav  avryv  nal  ^evrfv  TTJ$ 
EKHXTjtiiatiTiKrfS  TtitiTEGoS)" — Hist.  Arian.  ad  Monach.  n.  66,  t.  i.  pp.  302, 
303.  "  This,  then,  I  consider  the  meaning  of  this  passage,  and  that  a  very 


50  AUTHORITY 

ST.  CYRIL  OF  JERUSALEM,  G.  C.1 — The  thirty-third  section 
of  the  fourth  Catechetical  Instruction  is  headed,  "  Of  the 
Holy  Scriptures."  Having  made  a  remark  against  a  heresy 
of  long  standing,  he  says,  "  Learn  also  diligently,  and  from 
the  Church,2  which  are  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament, 
and  which  of  the  New,  and  read  not  to  me  anything  of 
the  uncertain  books.  For  wrhy  shouldest  thou,  that  knowest 
not  those  which  are  acknowledged  by  all,  take  useless  trouble 
about  those  which  are  questioned  ?  Read  the  divine  Scrip 
tures,  those  twenty-two  books  of  the  Old  Testament  which 
were  interpreted  by  the  seventy-two  interpreters."  (Then  fol 
lows  a  well-known  account  of  that  translation,  which  seems 
to  assert  a  species  of  divine  inspiration  in  its  favor.)  "  Read 
the  twenty-two  books  of  these  men  (or  of  these  Scriptures),  but 
have  nothing  to  do  with  the  uncertain  books  (Apocryphal).8 
Those  only  meditate  on  earnestly,  which  we  read  confidently 
even  in  the  church.  Far  wiser  than  thou,  and  more  devout, 

ecclesiastical  meaning  (f.id\a  kHH\.rj6ioc.6riHTjv  ovtiav)." — Oral.  i.  contr. 
Arian.  n.  44,  t.  i. p.  353.  "This  being  the  ecclesiastical  faith  (roiavrrj^ 
d£  ov6r^-,  rrjs  kKHX^ia^Tixrf-,  7ri'6rsGd$),  when  some  men,  considering  his 
human  acts,  see  the  Lord  thirsty  .  .  .  and  lower  the  Saviour  to  a  mere 
man,  they  sin  grievously." — Ep.  iv.  ad  Serap.  n.  15,  t.  i.  p.  564.  "Do  you 
wish  to  confound  the  system  of  the  Gentiles  and  of  the  heretics,  and  to  show 
that  the  knowledge  of  God  is  not  with  them,  but  in  the  Church  alone  (tv 
tiovp  ry  kHMXrjtiioi),  you  may  read  and  sing  the  seventy-fifth  Psalm." — Ep. 
ad  Marcell.  n.  21,  t.  i.  p.  795. 

1  St.  Cyril,  born  about  the  year  315,  was  ordained  priest  by  Maximus, 
bishop  of  Jerusalem,  in  the  year  345,  whose  see  and  chair  he  somewhat  un 
usually,  if  not  irregularly,  obtained  possession  of,  about  the  year  350.     He 
died  in  the  year  386.      None  of  his  writings  have  been  preserved  to  us,  ex 
cept  eighteen  catechetical  instructions  addressed  to  catechumens,  and  five 
mystagogic  discourses  addressed  to  neophytes.    The  edition  used  is  the 
Bened.  by  Touttee,  Venet.  1763. 

2  Kai  Ttapd  rrjS  £xxXr]6iaS. 

3  MrjSev  r<&v  djcoxpvqxar — Apocryphal,  a  term  which  then  seems  only 
to  have  signified  a  work  not  canonical.      The  canon  of  the  church  of  Jeru 
salem,  as  specified  by  St.  Cyril,  is  neither  as  regards  the  Old  nor  the  New 
Testament,  that  of  any  church  now  in  existence.      See  Ed.  Ben.  Diss.  iii. 
c.  13,  pp.  ccxli-ccxliv.      But  this  is  not  the  place  to  enter  on  a  question  of 
such  magnitude  and  difficulty  as  that  of  the  canon  of  Scripture.      The  pas 
sage  is  merely  adduced  to  show  whence,  according  to  St.  Cyril,  the  canon  is 
to  be  derived. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  51 

were  the  Apostles  and  the  ancient  bishops,  the  rulers  (presi 
dents)  of  the  Church,  who  have  handed  these  down.1  Thou, 
therefore,  who  art  a  child  of  the  Church,  do  not  falsify  what 
has  been  settled."—  Catech.  iv.  n.  33,35,^.  67,  68,  ed.  Bened. 
Yenet.  1763. 

"  But  take  thou  and  hold,  as  a  learner,  and  in  profession, 
that  faith  only  which  is  now  delivered  to  thee  by  the  Church, 
and  is  fenced  round  out  of  all  Scripture.2  For  since  all  can 
not  read  the  Scriptures,  but  some  as  being  unlearned,  others 
by  business,  are  hindered  from  knowledge  (of  them),  in  order 
that  the  soul  may  not  perish  from  want  of  instruction,  we 
comprehend  the  whole  doctrine  of  the  faith  in  a  few  sen 
tences.  This  I  wish  you  to  remember  in  the  very  phrase,  and 
to  rehearse  it  with  all  diligence  amongst  yourselves,  not  writ 
ing  it  on  paper,  but  graving  it  by  memory  on  your  heart  ; 
being  on  your  guard  in  your  exercise,  lest  haply  a  catechu 
men  should  overhear  the  things  delivered  to  you.  This  I 
wish  you  to  have  as  a  provision  by  the  way  during  the  whole 
period  of  life,  and  besides  this  never  to  receive  any  other."— 
Catech.  v.  n.  12.  For  the  continuation,  see  "  Private  Judg 
ment"  See  also  the  extract  from  Catech.  xviii.  n.  22-28, 
given  under  "  Catholicity." 

ST.  EPHR^M  SYKUS,  G.  C.3—  "  They  again  must  be  reproved, 
whosoever  they  are,  that  go  astray  out  of  the  highway,  and 
wander  along  devious  and  treacherous  paths  :  seeing  that  the 
way  of  salvation  presents  to  us  marks,  whereby  we  may  per 
fectly  know  that  this  is  the  road  which  the  messengers  of 


1  Oi  ravras 

.  .  .  rr?pr)dov  fj.ovr^v  rrjv  VTTO  rrfi  kKK\r](5ia^  vvvl  6oi  Tcapu- 
rijv  EH  Tta6rj^  ypCKprjS  i^xvpoo^iEvr^v. 

3  St.  Ephraem,  born  in  Nisebis,  or  in  the  neighborhood,  was  ordained 
deacon  at  Edessa,  and  is  said,  during  his  visit  to  St.  Basil,  to  have  been  or 
dained  priest  by  him.  His  works  were  even  during  his  own  lifetime  almost 
all  translated  into  Greek,  and  were,  as  St.  Jerome  informs  us,  held  in  such 
high  estimation,  as  to  be  read  in  some  churches  after  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
See  Sozomen.  H.  E.  L.  iii.  c.  16.  He  died  about  the  year  378;  we  have  his 
life  by  St.  Gregory  of  Nyssa.  The  most  complete  edition  of  his  works  is 
that  edited  by  P.  Benedetti,  S.J.,  and  Joseph  Assemani,  at  Rome,  in  six 
volumes  folio,  1732,  et  seqq.  This  is  the  edition  cited. 


52  AUTHORITY 

peace  trod;  which  the  wise,  inspired  by  the  Spirit,  fore 
showed  ;  and  which  the  prophets  and  Apostles  have  left  us  lev 
elled  and  made  smooth :  whose  mile-stones  truth  has  set  up, 
and  whose  hostelries  Christ  has  fitted  up.  Come,  brethren, 
let  us  enter  upon  this  road,  by  which  the  Father  sent  the 
Son  ;  let  us  keep  to  the  King's  highway,  that  we  may  all  to 
gether  journey  even  to  the  beholding  of  the  King's  Son.'1 — T. 
ii.  Syr.  Serm.  xxv.  Adv.  Hceres.  p.  495.  See  also  Ibid.  p.  498. 

"Marcion  knew  well  the  authority  of  the  sons  of  truth, 
and  the  signs  openly  shown  by  them  (miracles),  which  report 
has  transmitted  even  to  our  knowledge ;  and  this  too  is  at 
tested  by  their  own  Scriptures,  so  that  should  he  in  any  place 
controvert  them,  he  may  be  convicted  by  his  own  words.  If 
then  the  apostates  from  the  old  religion  presume  to  sow 
new  opinions,  and  ask  to  be  believed,  in  return  miracles  are 
to  be  asked  at  their  hands :  let  this  therefore  abundantly  suf 
fice  to  confute  them,  that,  whereas  diseases  are  everywhere 
prevalent,  they  have  never  as  yet  cured  one  sick  person,  nor 
even  dispelled  the  slightest  attack  of  fever."— T7.  ii.  Syr. 
Serm.  40,  Adv.  Hare*,  p.  530. 

"  Hither  come,  O  Faith,  thou  gift  bestowed  from  heaven  on 
holy  Church  ;  in  her  bosom,  I  pray  thee,  fix  thine  abode,  and 
there  rest.  If  the  Jews  have  driven  thee  from  them,  wjiat 
wonder  ?  they  follow  fables  and  their  own  dreamings ;  that  the 
heterodox  have  in  this  conspired  with  them,  is  nothing  new, 
for  they  are  in  love  with  contentions  and  disputes.  See  that 
thou  show  thyself  grateful  to  Him,  who  has  founded,  and 
united  to  thee  a  nation  that  becomes  thee,  which  bears  thee 
aloft  upon  its  shoulders,  in  triumph,  through  the  world." — T. 
iii.  Syr.  Serm.  vi.  de  Fide  (adv.  Scrutat.)p.  161. 

"  Let  it  not  be  to  you,  oh  ye  disciples  of  faith,  a  matter  of 
surprise  that  the  Jewish  teachers  are  even  yet  in  search  after 
the  truth  :  in  the  same  way  as  it  was  found  by  the  magi  in 
the  city  of  Bethlehem,  will  it  be  met  without  labor  in  the 
bosom  of  holy  Church,  by  those  who  seek  for  it  with  a  pure 
intention." — T.  iii.  Syr.  Serm.  iii.  adv.  Scrut.p.  201. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  53 

LUCIFEK  OF  CAGLIARI,  L.  C.1 — "  Thou  persecutes!  the  house 
of  God,  Coiistantius,  and  knowest  not  that  in  persecuting  her, 
thou  art  persecuting  God  Himself :  for  the  Church  is  God's 
habitation,  in  which  the  Lord  dwells,  as  in  the  Psalm  is  writ 
ten,  The  Lord  hath  chosen  Sion,  He  hath  chosen  it  for  His 
dwelling.  This  is  my  rest  for  ever  and  ever  /  here  will  1 
dwell  for  I  have  chosen  it"  (Ps.  cxxxi.) — Pro  St.  Athanas. 
L.  i.  n.  43,  t.  vi.  Gotland,  p.  173. 

"  The  Holy  Spirit,  the  Comforter,  who  was  in  the  prophets, 
remained  also  in  the  Apostles,  which  same  Holy  Spirit,  the 
Comforter,  since  he  is  in  God's  Church,  and  you  have  been 
placed  without  the  Church,  He  abides  not  in  you,  who  are 
thereby  proved  to  have  the  spirit  of  antichrist,  which  unclean 
spirit,  for  fear  lest  you  should  see  what  we  now  urge  upon  you, 
spreads  the  blinding  darkness  of  error  over  your  heretical 
hearts." — De  non  parcend.  in  Deum  deling,  n.  37,  Galland. 
t.  vi.^>.  238. 

DIDYMUS  OF  ALEXANDRIA,  G.  C.2 — "  The  Spirit,  the  com 
forter  and  the  holy,  and  the  spirit  too  of  truth  is  given  by  the 
Father,  to  abide  ever  with  Christ's  disciples,  with  whom  is 
also  the  Saviour  Himself,  who  says,  Lo,  /  am  with  you  even 
to  the  consummation  of  the  world" — De  Spir.  Sane.  n.  28, 
Galland.  t.  vi.  p.  274. 

Explaining  1  St.  John,  ii.  18,  19  :  "Little  children,  it  is  the 
last  hour  :  and  as  you  have  heard  that  antichrist  cometh,  &c. 
This  is  not  written  concerning  all  who  hold  false  doctrine,  but 
regards  those  only  who,  after  being  instructed  in  the  gospel, 

1  Lucifer,  bishop  of  Cagliari,  distinguished  himself  as  a  strenuous  op 
ponent  of  the  Arians.     He  died  about  the  year  371.     His  works,  which  con 
sist  almost  solely  of  a  few  pieces  addressed  to  the  Emperor  Constantius, 
are  given  by  Gallandius  in  his  sixth  volume,  from  Tillius'  edition,  with 
numerous  emendations.     It  is  the  edition  here  cited. 

2  Didymus,  surnamed  of  Alexandria,  from  presiding  over  the  celebrated 
school  of  that  city,  though  born  blind,  was  a  scholar  and  writer  of  great 
eminence.      He  died  about  the  year  399,  at  more  than  ninety  years  of  age. 
S.  Hier.  de  Vir.  III.  c.  109.     Palladius,  Hist.  Laus.  c.  3.     Of  his  numerous 
writings  but  few  remain.     Such  as  have  been  preserved  are  given  by  Gal 
landius  in  his  sixth  volume,  and  his  edition  is  here  followed. 


54  AUTHORITY 

turn  aside  to  a  false  sect.  .  .  .  For  it  is  a  natural  consequence 
that  they  who  have  separated  themselves  from  the  assembly  of 
the  faithful  are  antichrists.  For  how  can  they  help  but  be 
antichrists,  they  who  hold  opinions  opposite  to  those  which 
the  Church  of  Christ  confesses  1"l—lUd.  Enarrat.  in  Epist.  i. 
S.  Joannis^p.  297. 

ST.  DAMASUS,  P.  L.  C.J — "  We  have  indeed  confidence,  that 
your  holiness,  grounded  on  the  instruction  given  by  the 
Apostles,  holds  fast,  and  teaches  to  the  people,  that  faith  which 
in  nothing  differs  from  the  institutes  of  our  forefathers.  For 
it  does  not  beseem  priests  of  God,  whose  part  it  is  to  instruct 
others,  to  hold  any  other  sentiment.  Yet  have  we  learned 
from  the  relation  of  some  of  our  brethren  from  Gaul,  that 
there  are  some  who,  not  from  any  heretical  intention — for  so 
great  an  evil  cannot  befall  God's  appointed  rulers — but  from 
ignorance,  or  a  kind  of  simplicity,  agitated  by  sinister  inter 
pretations,  do  not  discern  which  is  the  sentiment  of  our  fore 
fathers  that  is  in  preference  to  be  held,  when  divers  opinions 
are  urged  upon  their  attention.  .  .  .  When,  in  time  past,  the 
poison  of  the  heretics  began  to  spread  itself,  as  it  does  now 
once  more,  and  when  especially  the  blasphemy  of  the  Arians 
first  shot  up,  our  forefathers,  the  three  hundred  and  eighteen 
bishops,  and  they  who  were  sent  from  the  city  of  the  most 
holy  Bishop  of  Rome  (St.  Silvester),  assembled  in  council  at 
Nicffia,  and  raised  up  this  wall  against  the  weapons  of  the 
devil,  and  by  this  antidote  repelled  the  cup  of  death.  .  .  . 
Your  uprightness  perceives  that  that  faith  alone  which  was 
settled  at  Nicsea,  by  the  authority  of  the  Apostles,  is  to  be  held 
with  unswerving  firmness."—^,  i.  Synod.  Orientalibus, 
Galland.t.vi.p.  321. 

ST.  GREGORY  OF  NYSSA,  G.  C.3— "  This  seems  to  me  to  teach 

1  Qui  contraria  sapiunt,  quam  Christ!  confitetur  ecclesia. 

2  St.  Damasus,  a  native  of  Spain,  and  the  personal  friend  of  St.  Jerome, 
succeeded  Liberius  in  the  chair  of  Rome,  and  after  ruling  that  see  for 
eighteen  years,  died  in  the  year  384.     The  edition  followed  is  that  of  Oal- 
landius  t.  vi.  Sibl.  Pair.,  which  is  a  reprint  of  that  by  Constant, 

3  St.  Gregory,  surnamed  of  Nyssa,  from  being  born  there  in  the  year 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  55 

us,  that  if,  during  the  time  of  our  education,  we  share  in  the 
instructions  of  those  that  are  without  (the  pale  of  the  Church), 
we  are  not  to  withdraw  ourselves  from  the  milk  with  which 
the  Church  feeds  us,  that  is,  both  the  laws  and  customs  of  the 
Church,1  wherewith  the  soul  is  fed  and  nurtured  to  manhood, 
and  from  which  the  soul  takes  occasion  of  mounting  to  what 
is  lofty."—  T.  i.  De  Vita  Mosis,  p.  189,  Paris.  1638. 

"  Whoso  looketh  unto  the  Church,  looketh  at  once  unto 
Christ,2  who,  through  the  increase  of  those  who  are  saved, 
builds  up  and  increases  Himself."  —  T.  i.  in  Cant.  Ccvntie. 
Horn.  xiii.  p.  664.  See  also  the  extract,  given  under  "  Tradi 
tion"  from  t.  ii.  I.  1,  Contr.  Eunomium. 

"  The  whole  dispute  and  controversy  about  dogma,  between 
churchmen  and  Eunomians,3  is,  whether  we  ought  to  account, 
as  our  adversaries  assert,  the  Son  and  the  Spirit,  creatures,  or, 
as  the  Church  has  believed,  of  a  nature  uncreated."  —  T.  ii.  1.  1, 
Contr.  Eunom.  p.  350.  See  also  Ibid.  p.  386. 

ST.  GREGORY  OF  NAZIANZUM,  G.  C.1  —  "  Order  has  settled, 
even  in  the  churches,  that  some  be  sheep  and  others  shepherds  ; 
some  the  ruled  and  others  the  rulers  ;  that  this  be  as  it  were 
the  head,  this  the  foot,  this  the  hand,  this  the  eye,  and  this  as 
some  other  member  of  the  human  body,  for  the  perfect  har 
mony  and  benefit  of  the  whole,  as  well  of  the  highest  as  of  the 

330,  was  appointed  bishop  of  that  city,  in  the  year  371.  He  died  about  the 
year  394.  He  was  the  brother  of  the  great  St.  Basil.  The  edition  of  his 
works  used  is  that  published  at  Paris,  (Fronto  Ducaeus)  in  3  vols.  folio, 
1638. 

1  M;;  ittpRsEGftca  TOV  vTtorpecpovrot  rjnaS  rfj$  EHHkrj6ia^ 
TOVTO  Slav  Eirj9  rd  vofJLivd  TE  ual  roe.  rflr]  rfjS  eKKtydiat. 

2  !O  rtpoS   Tr)v   knyikrj6iav    fiXsitGov,   npoS   TOV    Xpitirov 


Hdda  /J,dxrj  nal  d/ncpifioXia.  rov  doyiiaroS  rot's   £HHXrj6ia6TtHoi<3 
ovS  dvonoiovt,.     For  a  similar  phrase  see  Ibid.  p.  376;  also  t.  ii.  1.  ii. 
Contra  Eunom.  p.  481,  et  passim. 

4  St.  Gregory  was  born  at  Nazianzum  in  the  year  318.  After  ruling  the 
church  of  that  city  for  some  years,  he  was  appointed  to  the  see  of  Con 
stantinople,  which,  however,  he  was  compelled  to  resign.  He  returned  to 
Nazianzum,  where  he  died  towards  the  close  of  the  year  389.  He  was  the 
bosom  friend  of  St.  Basil,  and  from  his  learning  he  acquired  the  name  of 
the  Theologian.  The  edition  used  is  Paris.  1630,  in  2  vols.  folio. 


56  AUTHORITY 

lowest.  And  as,  in  our  bodies,  the  members  are  not  severed 
from  each  other,  but  the  whole  is  one  body  composed  of  dif 
ferent  members  ...  so  is  it  with  us  who  are  the  common 
body  of  Christ.  For  all  we  are  one  body  in  Christ,  being  in 
dividually  members  of  Christ  and  of  each  other  ;  for  one  in 
deed  rules  and  is  seated  in  honor,  another  is  guided  and  gov 
erned,  and  the  employment  of  both  is  not  the  same  —  unless  to 
rule  and  to  be  ruled  be  the  same  thing  —  yet  do  they  both  be 
come  one  unto  one  Christ,  being  built  up  and  joined  together 
by  the  same  Spirit.  .  .  .  Let  us  revere  this  order,  brethren  ; 
this  let  us  guard.  Let  one  be  the  ear,  another  the  tongue,  a 
third  the  hand,  another  some  other  member.  Let  one  teach, 
another  learn,  another  do  good  (working)  with  his  own  hands, 
that  he  may  have  wherewith  to  bestow  on  him  that  asks,  and 
on  the  needy.  Let  not  all  of  us  be  the  tongue,  nor  all  proph 
ets,  nor  all  apostles,  nor  all  expounders.  Is  it  an  excellent 
thing  to  speak  of  God  \  More  excellent  is  it  to  purify  one's  self 
unto  God.  To  teach  is  excellent,  but  to  learn  is  free  from 
danger.  Why  doest  thou  make  thyself  a  shepherd,  though 
one  of  the  llock  ?  Being  the  foot,  why  wilt  thou  become  the 
head  !(  Why  take  upon  thee  to  play  the  general,  though  en 
rolled  amongst  the  common  soldiers  ?  Why  pursue  the  great, 
but  uncertain  gains  of  the  ocean,  when,  though  thou  mayest 
gain  less,  it  is  in  thy  power  to  till  the  earth  ?"  —  T.  i.  Or.  xxvi. 
pp.  449,  450. 

"  If  these  men  (the  Apollinarists),  equally  with  those  who 
hold  rightly,  are  permitted  to  teach  as  they  choose,  and  to  pro 
mulgate  in  public  their  adopted  dogmas,  is  it  not  manifest 
that  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  is  thereby  condemned,1  as  if 
the  truth  were  with  those  men  ?  For  it  is  not  in  nature  that 
two  contrary  assertions,  on  the  same  subject,  can  both  be  true." 
-Ib.  Or.  46,  p.  722.' 


on  KaTeyv&GTai  6  r?;?  £K-H\ri6i 
2  "Sheep,  feed  not  your  shepherds,"  says  St.  Greg.  Xaz.  Or.  ix.  p.  154, 
"and  go  not  beyond  your  boundaries  ;  it  is  enough  for  you  if  you  be  well 
fed."     "There  ought  to  be  a  law,"  he  says,  t.  i.  Or.  xxvi.  p.  462,  "passed 
amongst  us,  whereby,  —  as  formerly  amongst  the  Jews,  it  was  arranged  not 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  57 

ST.  BASIL,  G.  C.1  —  "  Is  not  the  government  of  the  Church 
clearly  and  indisputably  the  work  of  the  Spirit  ;  a  for  He  gave, 
He  says,  first  Apostles,  secondly  prophets,  thirdly  teachers," 
&c.  —  Lib.  de  Sp.  Sanct.  c.  xvi.  t.  iii.  Pars  i. 

"  As  for  us,  besides  this  open  war  of  heretics,  that,  in  addi 
tion,  which  has  been  raised  by  those  who  have  the  appearance 
of  being  orthodox,  has  reduced  the  churches  to  the  last  degree 
of  weakness.  For  which  reason  we  stand  in  special  need  of 
assistance  from  you  (the  bishops  of  the  west),  to  the  end  that 
they  who  profess  the  apostolic  faith,  having  done  away  with 
the  schisms  which  they  have  invented,  may  henceforward  be 
subjected  to  the  authority  of  the  Church  ;  3  that  the  body  of 
Christ  may  become  perfect,  restored  to  completeness  in  all 
its  members  ;  and  that  we  may  not  only  praise  the  good  things 
found  amongst  others  as  we  now  do,  but  see  our  own  churches 
also  recover  their  pristine  glory  of  orthodoxy.  For  what  has 
been  vouchsafed  to  your  godliness  by  the  Lord,  is  truly  worthy 
of  the  most  exalted  praise  ;  that  you  discriminate,  that  is,  the 
adulterate  from  the  approved  and  the  pure,  and  openly  teach, 
without  subterfuge  whatever,  the  faith  of  the  fathers,  which 
we  also  have  received,  and  have  recognized  as  marked  with  the 
apostolic  characteristics."  4—  T.  iii.  P.  i.  Ep.  xcii.  ad  Ital.  et 
Gall.  p.  266. 

to  allow  to  the  young  certain  of  the  sacred  books,  as  not  being  likely  to  be 
profitable  to  their  yet  unsettled  and  tender  minds,—  not  to  all  men,  nor 
at  all  times,  but  according  to  a  settled  rule,  and  to  certain  persons  liberty 
should  be  granted  to  discourse  concerning  faith  (TOV  Ttepl  nidrewS  6vy- 
X<op£ttQai  Xoyov)."  The  Jewish  custom  here  alluded  to  is  also  men 
tioned  in  the  Or.  i.  p.  21,  t.  i. 

1  St.  Basil  was  born  at  Caesarea  in  Cappadocia,  about  the  year  328. 
After  completing  his  studies  in  Palestine,  Constantinople,  and  Athens,  he 
returned  to  his  native  country  in  355.     Many  of  the  subsequent  years  of  his 
life  were  spent  in  the  deserts  of  Egypt  and   Libya.     He  was  appointed 
bishop  of  his  native  city  about  369,  and  died  in  379.     His  character  and 
works  have  gained  for  him  the  surname  of  the  great.     The  edition  used  is 
the  Bened.  (Gamier),  3  vols.  in  6,  Paris.  1839. 

2  'H  ds  rift  EKKkritiiat,   diaHodjuydiS  .  .  .  fad   rov   Ttvev/itaroS    evep- 


rov  \ontov  ry  avGsvria 


58  AUTHORITY 

ST.  PACIAN,  G.  C.1 — "  '  Come,'  you  say,  '  and  let  us  contend 
with  facts  and  argument.'  I,  for  my  part,  have  been  hitherto 
free  from  all  anxiety  ;  have  been  content  with  the  continued 
existence  itself  of  the  Church,  and  with  the  peacefulness  of 
the  ancient  congregation.'  The  arts  of  discord  are  unknown 
to  me ;  I  have  been  no  searcher  after  arguments  for  disputa 
tion.  You,  after  being  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  body, 
and  divided  from  your  mother,  that  you  may  give  a  reason  for 
what  you  have  done,  have  become  an  assiduous  searcher  and 
inquirer  into  all  the  hidden  recesses  of  books :  what  is  hidden 
you  explore  ;  what  is  at  rest  you  disturb.  Our  fathers,  unre- 
quired,  entered  into  no  dispute ;  our  very  security  sought  no 
arms.  .  .  .  You  state,  and  rightly  indeed,  that  '  the  Church  is  a 
people  renewed  of  water  and  the  Holy  Ghost ;  free  from  deny 
ing  the  name  of  Christ ;  is  the  temple  and  the  house  of  God, 
the  pillar  and  ground  of  truth ;  a  holy  virgin  with  chastest 
feelings,  the  spouse  of  Christ,  of  His  flesh  and  of  His  bones,  not 
having  spot  or  wrinkle ;  and  preserving  entire  the  laws  of  the 
Gospels.'  Who  amongst  us  denies  this  ?  Nay,  we  say  further, 
that  the  Church  is  the  queen  in  gilded  clothing,  surround 
ed  with  variety  (Pa.  xliv.) ;  the  fruitful  vine  on  the  sides  of 
the  house  of  the  Lord  (P#.  cxxvii.) ;  the  mother  of  young 
maidens  without  number  ;  the  one  fair  and  perfect  dove  of 
her  mother  (Cant,  vi.) ;  the  very  mother  of  all,  built  upon  the 
foundation  of  the  Apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ  Him 
self  being  the  chief  corner-stone  ;  a  great  house  enriched  with 
every  variety  of  vessels.  But  this  of  ours  hereafter:  and 
meanwhile  let  us  consider  your  words.  '  The  Church  is  a 
people  born  again  of  water  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.'  Well ! 
who  has  closed  up  the  fountain  of  God  ?  Who  has  carried 
away  the  Spirit  (from  me)  ?  Yea,  rather,  with  us  is  the  living 
water,  which  springs  from  Christ :  whilst  thou,  separated  from 

1  St.  Pacian,  bishop  of  Barcelona,  in  Spain,  distinguished  by  various 
writings,  and  held  in  great  veneration,  died  about  the  year  375.  The  edi 
tion  used  is  that  given  by  Gallandius  in  his  sixth  volume  Bill.  Pair. 

9  Ipsa  ecclesiie  serie,  congregationis  antiquae  pace  contentus. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  59 

the  everlasting  fountain,  whence  receivest  thou  thy  birth  ? 
The  Holy  Spirit,  in  like  manner,  has  not  departed  from  the 
chief  mother  i1  whence  then  came  He  to  thee  ?  Unless  it  be 
that  He  has  forsooth  followed  a  dissenter,  and  having  aban 
doned  so  many  priests,  content  with  an  unconsecrated  throne 
(chair),  He  has  preferred  the  broken  cistern  of  an  adulterated 
fountain.  .  .  .  '  The  Church  is  a  people  free  from  denying  the 
name  of  Christ.'  Are  there  then  no  confessors  amongst  us, 
proved  by  chains  and  fire  and  sword  ?  '  There  were,'  you  say, 
6  but  they  perished  by  receiving  sinners.'.  .  .But  whom  can  you 
persuade  that  the  whole  Church,  by  receiving  the  lapsed,  hath 
fallen  away  ?  That,  by  the  admission  of  penitents,  the  people 
of  those  who  admit  them  has  been  made  a  denier  (of  the 
faith)?  Nay,  supposing  that  a  part  of  the  people  was  too 
yielding,  did  the  rest  also  who  approved  not  of  what  was  done, 
but  followed  custom  and  peace,  forfeit  the  Christian  name  ? 
Hear  the  voice  of  Jeremias :  In  those  days  they  shall  say  no 
more,  The  fathers  have  eaten  a  sour  grape,  and  tJie  teeth  of 
the  children  are  set  on  edge.  But  every  one  shall  die  for  his 
own  iniquity,  (xxxi.  29,  30.)  .  .  .  Thou  bindest  the  whole 
world  with  the  chains  of  a  few ;  thou  condemnest  the  whole 
Church  for  the  weakness  of  a  small  portion.  Say,  are  all,  in 
your  eyes,  saints,  whom  Novatus  instructed,  whom  Evaristus 
chose,  whom  Kicostratus  taught,  whom  Novatian  trained? 
Hast  thou  escaped '  the  thorns  and  briars  ? '  In  thy  <  corn '  are 
there  no  '  tares  ? '  Is  thy  <  wheat '  already  purged  ?  Is  the 
purifier  to  come  to  thee  without  '  his  fan  ? '  Wilt  thou  alone 
be  found  without  <  chaff  ? '  But  come,  proceed  with  the  rest. 
6  The  Church  is  the  body  of  Christ.'  The  body,  mind,  not  a 
member ;  the  body  framed  into  one  out  of  many  parts  and 
members,  according  to  that  of  the  Apostle,  For  the  body  is  not 
one  member,  but  many.  Wherefore  the  Church  is  the  full 
body ;  both  a  body,  and  a  compact  body,  and  a  body  now 
spread  over  the  whole  world :  like  a  city,  I  mean,  whose  parts 

1  Spiritus  quoque  Sanctus  a  principal!  matre  (the  mother,  the  source  of 
all)  non  abiit. 


60  AUTHORITY 

form  one  whole  ;'  not  as  you  Novatians,  an  unnatural  kind  of 
accumulated  excrescence  and  part,  separated  from  the  rest  of 
the  body.  '  The  Church  is  the  temple  of  God.'  Truly,  a 
roomy  temple ;  '  a  great  house,'  having  i  vessels  of  gold  and  of 
silver,'  and  '  also  of  wood  and  of  earth,  some  unto  honor/ 
and  many  magnificent  set  apart  for  the  manifold  uses  of  various 
works.  '  The  Church  is  a  holy  virgin,  of  chastest  feelings,  the 
spouse  of  Christ.'  A  '  virgin,'  no  doubt,  but  a  mother  too  ;  a 
4  spouse,'  undeniably,  but  also  a  wife,  taken  out  of  her  husband, 
and  therefore  '  bone  of  his  bones,  and  flesh  of  his  flesh.'  For 
of  her  David  said,  '  Thy  wife  as  a  fruitful  vine,  on  the  sides 
of  thy  house.  Thy  children,  as  olive  plants,  round  about  thy 
table.'  This  virgin  has  given  birth  to  many ;  her  offspring  is 
countless  ;  with  it  the  whole  world  is  filled  ;  with  it  the  throng 
ing  swarms  hum  busily  within  the  ever-teeming  hives.  Great 
is  the  mother's  care  for  her  children,  and  tender  her  affection : 
the  good  honored,  the  haughty  punished,  the  sick  healed ;  not 
one  perishes,  not  one  is  despised  ;  the  confiding  children  are 
governed  by  the  parent's  kindness.* 

"  4  The  Church  has  neither  spot  nor  wrinkle  ; '  that  is,  with 
out  heresies,  without  Yalentinians,  without  Cataphrygians, 
without  Novatians.  In  these  are  certain  spotted  and  wrinkled 
folds,  as  if  in  envy  of  the  ornaments  of  the  precious  garments. 
For  the  rest,  the  sinner  and  the  penitent  are  not  a  spot  on  the 
Church  ;  because,  as  long  as  he  sins  and  repents  not,  he  is 
placed  without  the  Church ;  when  he  ceases  to  sin  he  is  al 
ready  whole.  But  the  garment  of  the  Lord,  that  is,  the 
Church  of  Christ,  is  by  the  heretic  rent,  cut,  injured,  and 
crumpled.  '  For  whereas,'  says  the  Apostle,  '  there  are 
schisms  and  contentions  among  you,  are  you  not  carnal,  and 
walk  according  to  man  ? '  (1  Cor.  iii.)  And  '  their  speech 
spreadeth  like  a  canker '  (2  Tim.  ii.)  This  is  the  '  spot '  on 

1  Corpus  utique,  non  merabrum  ;  corpus  multis  in  unura  partibus  raem- 
brisque   eollectum  .  .   .  plenum  est  corpus,   et  corpus  et  solidum,  et  toto 
jam  orbe  diffusum;  sicut  civitas  cujus  partes  in  unum. 

2  Securi  fretus  sub  indulgentia  matris  renitentur. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  61 

unity  ;  this  the  6  wrinkle.'  Finally,  when  the  Apostle  is  speak 
ing  of  these  things,  he  sets  before  us  Christ's  love  and  affec 
tion  ;  '  as  Christ  loved  the  Church  and  delivered  Himself  up 
for  it,'  thereby  to  set  aside  heretics  who  know  not  how  to 
love.  But  why  apply  this  to  the  unhappy  penitent?  Be 
cause  he  wisheth  both  to  love  and  be  loved." — Epist.  i.  n. 
2-6,  pp.  262,  263,  Galland.  t.  vii. 

B.  ISAIAS,  G.  C.1 — "  Do  not,  even  for  the  sake  of  defending 
the  faith,  converse  with  heretics,  for  fear  lest  their  words 
instil  their  venom  into  thy  mind.  If  thou  meet  with  a 
book  said  to  be  by  one  of  the  heretics,  read  it  not,  lest  it  fill 
thy  heart  with  deadly  poison  ;  but  so  continue  in  that  doc 
trine  which  thou  hast  learnt  in  holy  Church,  as  neither  to  add 
to  nor  take  from  it." — Orat.  iv.  n.  6  ;  Galland.  t.  vii.  p.  283. 

ST.  EPIPHANIUS,  G.  C.2 — "  Oh,  the  exceeding  foolishness 
of  man  ! — every  pretext,  be  it  however  slight,  has  drawn 
aside  from  the  truth  every  heresy,  and  led  it  into  a  multi 
tude  of  evils.  For  like  a  man,  who,  having  found  a  gap  in 
the  fence  to  the  highway,  makes  up  his  mind  to  walk 
through  it,  and  leaving  the  public  road,  he  turns  from  it, 
thinking  he  has  a  shorter  road,  from  which,  after  thus  de 
viating,  he  shall  again  come  upon  the  highway,  but  knows 
not  that  there  is  a  very  high  wall  which  is  built  up  for  a 
long  distance,  and  he  then  runs  about  unable  to  find  an  out 
let,  and  passing  on  for  a  mile  or  two,  there  still  remains  a 
further  distance,  and  yet  he  finds  no  road,  and  so,  turn  where 
he  will,  he  has  before  him  a  greater  length  of  journey  ;  while 
toiling  on  thus,  finding  no  path  which  may  lead  him  to  the 
right  road,  and  perhaps  unable  even  to  find  one  without 
retracing  his  steps  on  that  upon  which  he  lately  entered ;  so 

1  Abbot.     For  his  history,  see  Palladius,  Hist.  Laus.  c  15,  et  seqq.     The 
edition  of  his  works  followed  is  that  of  Gallandius,  t.  vii.  Bib.  Vet.  Patr. 

2  Born  in  the  year  332;  he  passed  his  youth  in  the  monastic  state  under 
Hilarion,   Hesychius,  and  other  eminent  ascetics.     In  366  he  was  chosen 
bishop  of  Salamis,  in  the  isle  of  Cyprus.     He  died  about  the  year  403.     The 
edition  used  is  that  of  Petavius,  Colon,  (though  really  published  Lipsiae) 
1682. 


62  AUTHORITY 

every  heresy,  though  it  has  it  in  its  power  to  find  a  short 
road,  yet  does  it  wander  to  and  fro  over  one  that  is  longer, 
and  meets  at  once  with  an  impregnable  wall,  the  tortuous 
windings,  to  wit,  of  ignorance  and  of  folly,  and  such  cannot 
find  a  way  to  come  upon  the  right  road,  except  by  returning 
to  the  main  road,  the  king's  highway  that  is.  Even  as  the 
law  of  blessed  Moses  plainly  proclaimed,  saying  to  the  king 
of  Edom,  Thus  saith  thy  brother  Israel,  Through  thy 
boundaries  will  we  pass  unto  the  land  which  the  Lord  swore 
to  give  unto  our  fathers,  a  land  flowiny  with  milk  and 
honey.  .  .  .  We  will  not  turn  aside  to  the  right  hand  or  to 
the  left  ;  we  will  drink  water  for  silver  ',  and  eat  our  food 
for  silver  ;  we  will  not  turn  aside  either  here  or  there  ;  ive 
will  go  on  tJie  king's  highway  (Numb,  xx.)  For  there  is  a 
king's  highway,  and  that  is  the  Church  of  God,  and  the  path 
way  of  truth.1  But  each  of  the  heresies  having  left  the 
king's  highway,  and  turning  aside  to  the  right  hand  or  to 
the  left,  then  giving  itself  up  unreservedly,  is  dragged  for 
ward  into  error,  and  the  shamelessness  of  error  knows  no 
limits  in  every  heresy.  Come,  then,  ye  servants  of  God,  and 
children  of  the  holy  Church  of  God,  ye  who  are  acquainted 
with  the  safe  rule,'  and  are  walking  in  the  way  of  truth, 
and  who  are  not  dragged  from  side  to  side  by  words,  and  the 
summons  of  each  false  sect,  for  slippery  are  their  ways.  .  .  . 
They  boast  of  great  things,  and  know  not  the  least  :  they 
proclaim  liberty,  though  themselves  the  slaves  of  error."  —  T. 
i.  Adv.  Ilceres.  (59),  ^p.  503,  504. 

u  Even  as  we  are  the  body  of  Christ,  and  members  of  mem 
ber,  and  the  Church  of  God,  which  is  the  body  of  Christ.  If, 
then,  the  body  of  God,  the  Church,  closely  united  (glued)  to  the 
Spirit,  that  is,  to  the  Lord,  is  one  spirit,  he  therefore  that  strays 
away  from  her,  having  fallen  away  from  the  Spirit,  becomes 
carnal,3  both  in  soul  and  body."—  Ibid*.  Hceres.  (66),  p.  707. 


yap  o<5o?  fiaGiXixTj,  r/rzS  ttirlv  r)  rov  &£ov 
oSontopia  rrjS  dArflei'aS. 

3  Oi  rov  HOCVOYOC  d(5g)a\ff  yiraJtixovrsS. 

3'O  «TT?  avrrjS  dt-iaprdvoov  itvEvnaroS  EKitetitii',  6dp$  yeyevrjrai. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  63 

"  The  gates  of  hell  are  in  truth  all  the  heresies,  but  they 
shall  not  prevail  against  the  rock,  against  the  truth  that  is.1 
And  although  some  of  them  should  choose  to  say,  c  We  also 
confess  that  faith  that  was  laid  down  at  Nicsea:  show  me 
from  it  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  reckoned  in  the  Godhead  :  ' 
they  will  be  found  even  from  it  refuted.  There  was  at  that 
time,  however,  no  question  concerning  the  Spirit.  For  syn 
ods  create  security  on  the  point  that  falls  under  notice  from 
time  to  time."—  Adv.  litres.  Ct±),pp.  903,  904. 

"  Had  no  controversy  been  at  first  mooted  on  this  subject, 
it  was  a  very  simple  matter.  For  in  what  has  this  novelty 
benefited  the  world,  or  profited  the  Church?  Rather  has 
it  not  caused  injury,  having  given  birth  to  hatred  and  party- 
spirit?  But  as  the  doctrine  sprang  up  it  became  formid 
able  :  for  it  was  not  to  the  better  aiding  us  to  our  salva 
tion  :  it  is  a  denial  of  the  faith,  not  merely  not  to  confess 
on  this  head,  but  even  in  the  smallest  matter.  For  we 
ought  not,  even  in  the  slightest  particular,  to  deviate  from 
the  way  of  truth.  Let  us  then  argue  against  this  position 
of  theirs  ;  desirous  not  to  abandon  our  life,  nor  to  desert  the 
rule  of  the  holy  Church  of  God,2  and  of  the  confession  of 
faith.  For  never  has  this  (opinion  of  theirs)  been  asserted 
by  any  of  the  ancients,  whether  prophet,  or  apostle,  or  evan 
gelist,  or  by  any  of  the  expositors,  even  unto  these  days, 
never  until  this  sophistical  declaration  came  from  this  man 
of  much  learning."  —  Adv.  Hceres.  (77),^.  1018. 

"  We  have  on  the  present  occasion  made  these  remarks  in 
a  cursory  manner  only,  with  the  view  that  God-fearing  men 
may  know  that  whosoever  chooses  to  transgress  the  bound' 
aries  of  the  holy  Church  of  God,3  and  to  go  beyond  the  hope 
of  the  tradition,  both  prophetic  and  apostolic,  and  of  faith 
and  doctrine,  —  he  whose  mind,  on  account  of  the  brief  and 


yap  adov  aA7?0o5?  itd^ai  ai  aipetfsiS,  aA.ld  Hard  rrj$ 
ov  Kari6xv6ov6iy  rovredrt  Hard  rrj'-,  d 


2  Mijde  TOV  navora  HaraXiHTtdveiv  rijS  dyiaS  ©sov 

3  'TnepftaivEiv  rovS  opovS  rrjc,  ayia.*,  Seov 


64  AUTHORITY 

Blight  declaration  of  one  statement,  is  turned  aside  to  some 
thing  trivial  and  ordinary, — his  understanding  will  thence 
forward  be  perverted  to  many  empty  assertions  and  treach 
erous  conjectures,  and  unto  absurd  and  strange  questions  and 
endless  genealogies." — Ibid.  (77),^.  1031. 

At  the  close  of  his  great  work  Against  the  Heresies,  he 
gives,  after  alluding  to  the  sects  and  their  churches,  a  brief 
exposition  of  faith  and  practice,  which  he  prefaces  as  fol 
lows,  by  turning  to  the  Church  :  "  And  now,  as  we  behold 
the  city,  let  us  hasten  unto  it,  the  holy  Jerusalem,  the  virgin 
of  Christ  and  His  spouse  ;  the  safe  foundation  and  rock  ; 
both  our  venerable  mother,1  and  Christ's  bride  ;  we  too  using 
these  most  apposite  words  :  Come  and  let  us  go  up  to  the 
mountain  of  the  Lord,  and  to  the  house  of  the  God  of  Jacob ', 
and  He  will  teach  us  His  ways,  and  the  rest.  (Is.  ii.  3.) 
Come,  then,  ye  sons  of  Christ — children  of  the  holy  Church 
of  God  ...  let  us  also  cry  aloud.  As  the  hart  panteth  after  the 
fountains  of  waters,  so  my  soul  panteth  after  Thee,  0  God; 
and  again,  When  shall  I  come,  and  appear  before  the  face  of 
God  f  Wherefore  let  us  also  speedily  call  upon  the  spouse, 
not  as  He  calls  her,  He  who  is  her  bridegroom  and  master, 
king,  God,  and  protector ;  but  let  us,  as  His  servants,  call 
unto  her,  using  the  same  language  as  He,  Come  from  Li- 
ba?rus,  my  spouse,  for  thou  art  all  fair,  and  there  is  not  a 
spot  in  thee :  the  paradise  of  the  great  workman ;  the  city 
of  the  holy  king  ;  spouse  of  the  spotless  Christ ;  the  most 
pure  virgin  betrothed  in  faith  to  one  only  husband ;  re 
splendent  and  as  the  morning  rising,  fair  as  the  moon, 
chosen  as  the  sun,  terrible  as  an  army  set  in  array  /  whom 
queens  have  declared  blessed,  and  concubines  have  hymned, 
and  the  daughters  praised  ;  she  that  cometh  up  from  the 
desert,  shining  all  in  white,  leaning  on  her  beloved,  breathing 
perfumes  ...  of  whom  it  was  said,  Thy  name  is  oil  poured 
out  /  therefore  have  young  maidens  loved  thee  :  she  has  stood 

1  Trjv  napQevov  Xpitirov  nal  vvntprfv,  d<5<paXii  rs  fidtiiv,  xal  iter- 
pav,  GsfJLvrjv  re 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  65 

on  the  king1  s  right  hand,  in  gilded  clothing  •  she  lias  nothing 
darksome  about  her  ;  once  indeed  black,  but  now  beautiful 
and  fair  ;  that,  being  placed  in  thee,  we  may  rest  from  the 
hateful  heresies  which  we  have  passed  through,  and  may 
iind  repose  from  their  swelling  waves,  and  may  rest  in  thee 
our  holy  mother  the  Church,  and  in  the  holy  doctrine  within 
thee,1  and  in  the  holy  and  alone-true  faith  of  God.  Now  will 
I  begin  to  narrate  the  things  that  are  wonderful  in  this  holy 
city  of  God,  for  glorious  things  are  aaid  of  her,  as  the 
prophet  declares  .  .  .  and  first  of  all  (we  have  to  state),  that 
the  God  that  is  over  all,  is  their  God  who  have  been  born 
of  this  holy  Church  ;  for  this  is  the  first  demonstration  as 
regards  truth,  and  the  foundation  of  the  faith  of  this  our  vir 
gin,  and  holy  and  guiltless  dove,  concerning  the  Lord  in  Spi 
rit  revealed  to  Solomon,  in  the  Canticle  of  Canticles,  saying, 
There  are  threescore  queens,  and  fourscore  concubines,  and 
young  maidens  without  number  :  one  is  my  dove,  my  perfect 
one.  The  my  is  twice  set  down,  because  His  is  that  dove, 
that  perfect  one  ;  whilst  the  rest  are  so  called,  but  are  not 
so,  whereas  she  is  twice  so  designated.  .  .  .  For  the  Church 
is  begotten  of  one  faith,  and  brought  forth  by  means  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  ;  one  to  one,  and  one  to  her  mother.  And  as 
many  as  have  come  after,  or  have  been  before  her,  are  called 
concubines."—  Adv.  Hares.  (Expos.  Fid.)  pp.  1078-1080,  1083. 
"  We  therefore  acknowledge  one  Church  .  ,  .  one  baptism, 
one  faith.  And  let  these  men  cease  to  be  against  that  holy  vir 
gin  of  Christ,  and  chaste  spouse,  to  wit,  the  holy  Church  our 
mother  ;  for  her  children  have  received  from  the  holy  fathers, 
that  is,  the  holy  Apostles,  to  guard  the  faith,  and  withal  to 
transmit  and  preach  it  to  their  own  children.  Amongst 
whom,  most  honored  brethren,  ye  also  are  those  children,  and 
transmit  this  same  doctrine  to  your  children.  Teaching  by 
word  these  things,  and  things  like  to  them  ;  cease  not,  faithful 
and  orthodox  men,  to  confirm  from  the  divine  writings  your- 


sv  <5oi  dyia.  nrjTrjp  fjnodv  eKntytiia,  nod  kv  TTJ  dyiq. 
kv  601 


66  AUTHORITY 

selves  and  your  hearers,  instructing,  guiding,  catechising; 
(cease  not)  to  guard  that  holy  faith  of  the  Catholic  Church,  as 
the  alone  and  holy  virgin  of  God  received  it  from  the  holy 
Apostles  of  the  Lord.  And  not  only  ought  you  thus  to  an 
nounce  to  your  children  in  the  Lord  —  to  each  one  of  the  cate 
chumens  about  to  approach  to  the  holy  laver  —  to  believe  ;  but 
you  ought  also  to  teach  them  to  say,  word  by  word,  as  that 
same  mother  of  us  all  (teaches  to  say),  '  We  believe  in  one 
God.'  (Follows  the  creed.)  This  is  that  faith  transmitted  by 
the  Apostles,  and  in  the  Church,  in  that  holy  city,  by  all  the 
holy  bishops  together,  in  number  more  than  three  hundred 
and  ten."—  T.  ii.  Ancor.  n.  119,  120,^?.  122,  123. 

"  From  the  midst  of  these  sects,  and  after  them  in  order  of 
time,  there  shone  forth  the  saving  Incarnation1  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ—  His  appearance,  that  is,  in  the  flesh—  and  at  the 
same  time  the  doctrine  of  the  Gospel,  and  the  preaching  of 
the  kingdom  ;  which  is  the  alone  source  of  salvation,  and  the 
true  faith  of  the  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church  ;  from  which 
all  the  following,  which  have  but  the  name  of  Christ,  not  the 
faith,  have  been  cut  off  and  separated.  [He  then  gives  a  sum 
mary  of  the  heresies  treated  of  in  his  great  work,  and  adds 
that]  to  the  account  given  of  those  heresies  he  had  append 
ed  a  defensive  statement,  in  brief,  of  the  orthodox  faith  and 
of  truth—  which  is  the  holy  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church.3 
This  is  the  summary  and  index  of  the  whole  treatise  against 


a  'H  Ttepl  rrj$  opfJrjt  TtitirscaS  nai  aXrftEiaS  dnoXoyia  n 
riS  Itinr  rj  dyia  nafJoXiHrf  nal  aito6To\iHrj  iKxXrjGia.  The  following  in 
cidental  passages,  which  occur  in  various  parts  of  St.  Epiphanius,  also  de 
serve  notice:  "And  subjoined  to  those  eighty  heresies,  is  the  one,—  the 
basis  withal  and  instruction  in,  and  saving  formulary  of  the  truth^and 
Christ's  spouse—  Holy  Church  (pia.  Se  x/tra  rat  oydorinovra,  rj  ri?S  ahrj- 
Oez'trS  fiddiS  ana  nal  didatixaXia,  xal  tivrrfpioS  icpaytiareia,  nal 
Xpidrov  vvncprjydyia  £KHXrj6ia)^—Procem.  adPanar.  Epist.  adAcac.  et 
Paul. 

"  They  speak  not  in  accordance  with  the  truth,  but  differently,  in  oppo 
sition  to  the  preaching  of  the  truth."  —  H&r.  47,  p.  400. 

"Concerning  the  Father,  and  Son  and  Holy  Ghost,  they  think  in  ac 
cordance  with  the  Holy  Catholic  Church;  but  they  have  separated  them- 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  67 

the  eighty  heresies,  and  of  the  one  defensive  statement  rela 
tive  to  the  truth,  to  wit,  the  one  Catholic  Church."— I7,  ii. 
Anaceph.pp.  127,  130. 

COUNCIL  OF  ARLES,  L.  C.— In  the  synodal  epistle  of  this 
council,  which  was  held  in  314,  we  have  the  following: 
"  Bound  and  adhering  together  to  the  Catholic  Church  by  a 
common  bond  of  love,  and  by  the  union  of  that  Church  our 
mother,  we  have,  by  the  will  of  the  most  pious  emperor, 
been  gathered  together  in  the  city  of  Aries,  whence  we,  with 
well-merited  reverence,  salute  you,  most  illustrious  pope  (Sil 
vester).  Thither  we  have  brought  (or,  there  we  have  had  to 
endure)  men  troublesome  and  pernicious  to  our  law  and  tra 
dition,  and  of  an  unbridled  mind ;  whom  both  the  present 
authority  of  our  God,  and  the  tradition  and  rule  of  truth, 
have  in  such  wise  repudiated,  as  that  there  remained  not  any 
thing  to  be  said  by  them,  nor  any  ground  of  accusation,  nor 
any  suitable  proof.  Wherefore  God,  and  our  mother  the 
Church  being  the  judge— she  who  both  knows  and  approves 
her  own1— they  were  either  condemned  or  repulsed.  And 

selves  from  her,   giving  heed  to  spirits  of  error,   and  the  doctrines  of 
demons." — Beer.  48,  p.  402. 

"  They  (the  Quartodecimans)  hold  on  all  points  as  does  this  Church,  and 
differ  in  their  error  from  all  others,  in  not  attaching  themselves  to  what 
flows  from  and  is  accordant  with  her  laws."— Har.  50,  p.  419. 

' 'Art  thou  afraid  lest  they  introduce  Polytheism,— they  that  offer  true 
worship  to  the  Trinity;  they  who  are  the  children  of  the  truth,  and  of  the 
one  Catholic  Church  ?  "—Rcer.  57,  p.  482. 

"  There  is  a  party  called  Meletians  .  .  .  from  Meletus,  who  was  a  bishop 
of  the  Catholic  Church  and  of  orthodox  faith.  For  his  faith  never,  at  any 
time,  differed  from  that  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church."— ILrr.  08,  p.  716. 

"Aerius  dogmatized  in  many  particulars  in  opposition  to  the  Catholic 
Church."— Ib.  p.  809. 

"We  exhorted  him  (Vitalis)  to  speak  in  accordance  with  the  faith  of  the 
Holy  Catholic  Church,  and  to  cease  from  his  contentious  expressions  "— 
Hcer.  77,  p.  1014. 

"This  is  our  faith,  this  our  honor,  and  this  our  mother  the  Church,  who 
saves  us  by  means  of  faith,  and  strengthens  us  by  means  of  hope,  and  per 
fects  us  in  the  love  of  Christ,  both  in  the  confession,  and  in  the  mysteries, 
and  in  the  purifying  power  of  the  laver."— Ibid.  (Expos.  Fid.}  p.  1101. 
See  also  t.  ii.  Ancor.  n.  103,  p.  104. 

1  Qnos  et  Dei  nostri  praesens  auctoritas,  et  traditio  ac  regula  veritatis 
.  .  .  judice  Deo  et  matre  ecclesia,  quae  suos  novit  et  comprobat. 


68  AUTHORITY 

would,  most  beloved  brother,  that  you  would  have  done  us  so 
much  honor,1  as  to  be  present  at  this  so  great  a  spectacle ; 
we  assuredly  believe  that  a  more  severe  sentence  would  have 
been  pronounced  against  them;  and,  you  judging  together 
with  us,  our  assembly  would  have  exulted  with  greater  joy." 
— Ep.  Synod.  Silvestro  et  al.  col.  1425,  t.  ii.  Ldbbe. 

ST.  AMBROSE,  L.  C.a — "  The  synagogue  loved,  the  Church 
loves,  and  never  varies  in  her  affection  for  Christ.  Where 
feedest  Thou  f  she  says,  where  abidest  Thou  in  the  mid-day  f— 
(Cant.  i.  6.)  I  desire  to  follow  Thee  as  a  nurse,  who  before 
held  Thee  as  if  linked  to  Thee,  and  to  seek  Thy  flocks,  be 
cause  I  have  lost  mine.  Thou  feedest  in  the  mid-day,  that  is, 
there  where  the  Church  is,  where  justice  shines,  and  judgment 

1  Utinara  .  .  .  interesse  tanti  fecisses.  In  the  eighth  canon  of  the  Coun 
cil  of  Nica?a,  we  have  the  following:  "Concerning  those  who  formerly 
called  themselves  Cathari,  but  who  come  over  to  the  Catholic  Church,  it 
hath  seemed  good  to  the  holy  and  great  synod,  that  they,  having  had  hands 
imposed  on  them,  remain  thus  in  the  clergy.  But  before  all  things  it 
is  befitting  that  they  confess  in  writing,  that  they  will  adhere  to,  and  follow 
the  doctrine  of  the  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church  (on  GvvMfiovTai  xal 
d.KoXovfjrj6ov6i  roi<=>  rifi  xaOoAz*7/$  nal  ditoGroXinrfi  kKK\r)6ia$  doy- 
na6i)" — Labbe,  t.  ii.  Concil.  col.  32. 

In  the  sixth  Canon  of  the  Council  of  Constantinople  we  have:  "  Heretics 
are  not  to  be  allowed  to  make  accusations  against  the  orthodox  bishops  con 
cerning  ecclesiastical  matters.  But  we  denominate  as  heretics,  both  those 
who  have  been  formerly  proscribed  by  the  Church,  and  those  who  have  since 
been  anathematized  by  us;  and  in  addition  to  these,  those  also  who  do  in 
deed  pretend  to  confess  the  sound  faith,  but  who  have  separated  themselves 
and  have  formed  congregations  in  opposition  to  our  canonical  bishops." — 
Labbe,  t.  ii.  col.  950.  "Those  who  are  added  to  orthodoxy,  and  to  the  por 
tion  of  those  who  are  saved,  we  receive  according  to  the  following  order  and 
custom.  We  receive  the  Arians,  and  Macedonians,  and  Sabbatians,  and 
Novatians,  who  call  themselves  Cathari  and  Aristeri,  and  the  Quartodeci- 
mai>s,  or  Tetradites,  and  the  Apollinarists,  upon  their  giving  in  written 
statements,  and  anathematizing  every  heresy,  which  thinks  not  as  thinks  the 
holy,  Catholic,  and  Apostolic  Church  of  God  (HT?  q>povov6av  ooS  <ppovei  ff 
dyia  TOV  Qeov  naQoXim)  nal  dno6ro\iHr)  ^xttA^oYa) ;  and  having  first 
sealed  them,  or  anointed  them  with  the  holy  ointment,  upon  the  forehead, 
and  eyes,  and  nostrils,  and  mouth,  and  ears;  and  sealing  them  we  say,  The 
seal  of  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost."— Jb.  can.  vii.  col.  952.  On  these  two 
canons  see  Labbe,  not.  o.  col.  971,  t.  ii. 

2  Born  in  340,  he  was  reluctantly  made  bishop  in  the  year  374.  He 
closed  a  great  and  glorious  career  in  396.  We  have  his  life  by  Paulinus. 
The  edition  cited  is  the  Bened.,  Paris,  1686-1690. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  69 

glows  as  the  mid-day  sun ;  where  no  shadow  is  seen  ;  where 
the  days  are  longer,  because  the  sun  of  justice  lingers  longer 
with  them,  as  though  in  the  summer  months." — Hexcem.  L. 
iv.  c.  6,  n.  22,  t.  i.  p.  71.  See  also  II.  L.  vi.  c.  8,  n.  49,  p. 
132,  K  F. 

"  Zabulon,  it  is  said,  shall  dwell  near  the  sea,  (Gen.  xlix. 
13),  that,  himself  exempt  from  danger,  he  may  see  the  ship 
wrecks  of  others,  and  behold  others  tossed  about  in  the  sea 
of  this  world,  and  carried  about  by  every  wind  of  doctrine, 
whilst  he  perseveres  immovable  in  (or,  by)  the  root  of  faith, 
as  is  the  thrice-hallowed  Church  rooted  and  founded  in  faith, 
looking  on  the  storm-tossed  heretics,  and  the  shipwrecked 
Jews,  because  they  have  repudiated  their  former  pilot.  By 
the  waves  therefore  is  her  dwelling-place,  but  by  the  waves 
she  is  not  shaken,  prepared  rather  to  afford  help,  than  herself 
obnoxious  to  danger :  so  that  if  there  be  any  who,  driven  by 
the  fierce  tempests,  wish  to  flee  to  harbor,  the  Church,  as  a 
harbor  of  safety,  may  be  at  hand,  and  with  outstretched  arms, 
invite  the  imperilled  unto  her  bosom  of  rest,  showing  them  a 
place  that  is  a  safe  haven.  The  churches,  therefore,  are  in 
this  world  placed  for  the  endangered,  like  maritime  harbors 
scattered  along  the  coast ;  proclaiming  that  a  place  of  refuge 
has  been  prepared  for  believers,,  whither  they  may  withdraw 
their  storm-tossed  vessels." — T.  i.  De  Bened.  Pair.  c.  5,  n. 
27,  p.  521. 

"How  should  the  traveller  walk  in  the  dark?  His  foot 
soon  stumbles  in  the  night,  unless  the  moon,  as  it  were  the 
eye  of  the  world,  show  the  way.  Thou  also  art  in  the  night 
of  the  world ;  let  the  Church  point  out  the  way  to  thee ; '  let 
the  sun  of  justice  enlighten  thee  from  on  high,  in  order  that 
thou  mayest  not  fear  a  fall." — T.  i.  Enarr.  in  Ps.  xxxv.  n. 
W,p.  776. 

Thou  hast  wounded  my  heart  with  one  of  thy  eyes — ( Cant. 
iv.  9.)  "Most  persons  understand  by  this  passage  the  two 
eyes  of  the  Church ;  one  that  sees  things  mystical,  the  other 
1  Monstret  tibi  ecclesia  viam. 


70  AUTHORITY 

things  moral;  because  the  holy  Church  not  only  holds  the 
knowledge  (discipline)  of  things  moral,  but  also  teaches  the 
secrets  of  the  heavenly  mystery."  ' — Hid.  in  Ps.  cxviii.  (Ain) 
n.  20,  p.  1176. 

"  Amongst  the  Gentiles  there  is  falsehood,  in  the  Church 
truth.  This  truth,  however,  was  first  held  by  the  synagogue, 
which  had  the  oracles  of  God.  Truth,  therefore,  was  with 
the  Fathers,  Moses,  Joshua,  Samuel,  David,  Elias,  Elisseus, 
and  in  those  seven  thousand  who  had  not  bowed  the  knee 
to  Baal.  But  as  the  posterity  of  those  Jews  abandoned  the 
customs  of  their  fathers,  truth  abandoned  them,  and  took 
refuge  with  the  Church.  It  abandoned  them  when  they 
said  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  Away  with  Him,  crucify  Him ;  for 
they  gave  up  truth,  and  chose  iniquity.  Wherefore  all  other 
generations  are  strangers  to  truth  ;  all  the  generations  of 
heretics  hold  not  truth  :  the  Church  alone,  with  pious  affec 
tion,  is  in  possession  of  the  truth."8—  T.  i.  in  Ps.  cxviii. 
(Lttmed)  n.  \»,p.  1119.  So  also  Ibid.  (Tau)  n.  33, p.  1255. 

"  The  Church  also  has  her  walls,  and,  being  now  more  per 
fect,  she  says,  /  am  a  fortified  city.  This  is  the  wall  which 
has  the  twelve  apostolic  gates,  through  which  the  entrance  into 
the  Church  lies  open  to  the  nations.  .  .  .  And  because  Christ 
is  the  door,  Christ  who  says,  By  me  if  any  man  enter  in,  he 
shall  be  saved,  the  Church  is  also  called  a  door ;  because  through 
her  the  entrance  unto  salvation  is  open  to  the  nations : 3  and 
lest  it  might  be  corrupted  by  the  moth  or  the  worm  of  here 
tics,  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem,  that  is  the  angels,  or  the 

1  Eo  quod  sancta  ecclesia  non  solum  moralium  teneat  disciplinam,  sed 
etiam  coelestis  doceat  secreta  mysterii.      Earlier  in  his  commentary  on  the 
same  Psalm  (Lit.  Lamed),  n.  45, p.  1128,  we  have  the  following:  "We  can 
not,  in  every  instance,  express  the  force  of  the  Greek ;  in  it  there  is,  for  the 
most  part,  greater  force  and  dignity  of  language.     The  Greek  word  rf'AoS 
is  by  us  expressed  both  by  end  and  consummation ;  but  TE\O<S  is  the  end 
also  of  the  consummation  itself.  .  .  .  You  have  it  written,  Lo  I  am  with 
you  .  .  .  even  to  the  consummation  of  the  world.      The  consummation, 
therefore,  of  the  world  is  the  end  of  the  world  (consummatio  ergo  saeculi 
finis  sjBculi  est)." 

2  Sola  ecclesia  veritatem  pio  affectu  possidet. 

3  Quia  per  ipsam  patet  populis  aditus  ad  salutem. 


OF  THE   CHURCH.  7i 

souls  of  the  just,  say,  Let  us  build  upon  it  boards  of  cedar,— 
(Cant.  viii.  9),  to  wit,  the  excellent  odor  of  sublime  faith,— 
for  such  is  the  sweet  odor  of  this  substance,  that  neither  worm, 
nor  moth,  can  taint  it.  ...  Error  had  led  astray  one  sheep  ; 
but  the  grace  of  the  Lord  gathered  together  a  multitude  of 
nations.  Man  erred  ;  but  the  Church  is  now  a  wall,  yea  a  strong 
wall."  -T.  i.  Rid.  (Lit.  Tau]  n.  37,  38,  40,  pp.  1256,  1257.  " 

"  If  by  the  finger  of  God  devils  are  cast  out,  faith  likewise 
by  the  finger  of  the  Church  is  discovered."  '— T.  i.  Comm.  in 
LUG.  L.  v.p.  13T8.8 

"  To  Moses  the  Lord  said,  The  place  whereon  thou  standest 
is  holy  ground  (Exod.  iii.),  and,  Stand  thou  here  with  me 
(Deut.  v.),  that  is,  thou  standest  with  me,  if  thou  standest  in 
the  Church.  For  that  is  the  holy  place  ;  that  is  the  land  fruit 
ful  in  holiness,  and  rich  in  harvests  of  virtues.  Stand,  there 
fore,  in  the  Church ;  stand  where  I  have  appeared  to  thee ; 
there  I  am  with  thee.  Where  tke  Church  is,  there  is  the  most 
secure  resting-place  (or  harbor)  for  thy  mind."  3—  T.  ii.  Ep. 
Ixiii.  Eccles.  Vercell.  n.  41,  42,/>.  1032. 

"When  didst  thou  hear,  O  emperor,  of  bishops  being 
judged,  in  a  cause  regarding  faith,  by  laymen  ?  Are  we  then 
so  bowed  down  by  a  kind  of  flattery  as  to  be  heedless  of  the 
sacerdotal  right,  and  shall  I  fancy  that  what  God  bestowed  on 
me,  that  I  may  entrust  to  others  ?  If  a  bishop  is  to  be  taught 
by  a  layman,  what  will  follow  ?  Let  then  the  layman  argue 

1  Fides  quoque  digito  ecclesiae  reperitur. 

2  So  also  in  the  same  commentary:    "Christ  is  the  bridegroom;  the 
Church  the  spouse  ;  in  love  a  wife;  in  undefiled  purity  a  virgin."—?,  viii. 
n.  9,  col.  1472.      "  Many  who  believe  themselves  to  hear,  hear  not.'     In  the 
Church  all  have  hearing;  out  of  the  Church,  none.     (In   ecclesia  omnes 
habent  [auditum],  extra  ecclesiam  non  habent.)"— Ibid.  I.  ix.  n.  69,  col. 
1519.     And  earlier  in  the  same  volume  :  "  No  wonder  that  he  had  peace ;  he 
who  had  raised  a  pillar  and  anointed  it  to  the  Lord,  (that  pillar)  which  is 
the  Church;  for  it  is  called  the  pillar  and  ground  of  truth."— T.  i.  De 
Jacob  et  vita  Seat.  I.  ii.  c.  v.  n.  20,  col.  465.     "What  then  is  the  otxovti'evy, 
but  the  holy  Church,  the  temple  of  God,  and  the  dwelling-place  of  Christ  ? 
(templum  Dei,  et  habitaculum  Christi)." 

3  Mecum  stes,  si  stes  in  ecclesia  .  .  .  sta  ergo  in  ecclesia  .  .  .  ubi  est 
ecclesia,  ibi  firmissima  static  tuas  mentis  est. 


72  AUTHORITY 

and  the  bishop  hearken  ;  let  the  bishop  learn  from  the  layman. 
But,  assuredly,  whether  we  look  into  the  series  of  divine 
Scriptures,  or  into  the  ancient  times,  who  is  there  that  will 
deny  that  in  a  cause  regarding  faith,  in  a  cause,  I  repeat, 
regarding  faith,  that  bishops  have  been  accustomed  to  judge  of 
Christian  emperors,  not  emperors  of  bishops?  With  the  bless 
ing  of  God,  you  will  become  of  riper  years,  and  then  will  you 
have  your  own  opinion,  what  sort  of  bishop  that  is  who  will 
fling  the  sacerdotal  right  under  the  feet  of  laymen.  Your 
father,  who  was,  by  God's  blessing,  of  riper  years,  said,  '  It 
belongs  not  to  me  to  judge  between  bishops;'  and  now  your 
clemency  says,  <  It  is  my  place  to  judge.' :  -T.  ii.  Ep.  xxi. 
Valentin,  n.  45,  pp.  860,  861.1 

ST.  JEROME,  L.  C.'— "  My  resolution  is,  to  read  the  ancients, 
to  try  everything,  to  hold  fast  what  is  good,  and  not  to  re 
cede  from  the  faith  of  the  Catholic  Church."1  -T.  i.  Ep.  ad 
Minerv.  et  Alexand.  n.  xi.  col.  810. 

"  I  might  spend  the  day  in  such  argumentation,  and  drain 
utterly  dry  all  the  streamlets  of  their  assertions  by  the  sun 
alone  of  the  Church.4  But  as  we  have  already  discoursed  at 
much  length,  and  the  prolixness  of  the  dispute  has  wearied 
the  attention  of  the  hearers,  I  will  lay  before  you  a  brief  and 

'  In  Mans  Nora  Collect  io  Vet.  Scrip,  t.  vi.  pp.  156-158  is  published  the 
Explanatio  Symboli  ad  Initiandos,  hitherto  wanting  in  the  works  of  St. 
Ambrose.  On  the  clause,  "  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  holy  Catholic- 
Church,"  we  have  the  following:  "Perhaps  thou  mayest  say,  But  it  (the 
creed)  lias  also  'in  the  Church;'  it  has  also  'in  the  remission  of  sins; 
has  also  •  in  the  resurrection:  What  then?  The  case  is  the  same.  We  so 
believe  in  Christ,  we  so  believe  in  the  Father,  as  we  also  believe  in  the 
Church  (sic  credimus  in  Christum  .  .  .  quemadmodum  credimus  in  ecc 
siam),  and  in  the  remission  of  sins,  and  in  the  resurrection  of  the  flesh. 
What  is  the  reason?  Because  he  who  believes  in  the  maker,  believes  also  in 
the  work  of  the  maker." 

*  Born  at  Strido,  about  the  year  331,  he  died  in  the  year  420.     In  an  age 
distinguished  by  men  of  the  greatest  eloquence  and  learning,  St.  Jerome, 
especially  in  all  matters  connected  with  the  sacred  Scriptures,  was  then  pre 
eminent,  and  has  probably  never  since  been  equalled.     The  Vulgate  i 
imperishable  monument  to  his  fame.     The  edition  cited  is  that  of  \  alb 
11  vols.  fol.  Veronse,  1735. 

3  A  fide  ecclesiae  catholic*  non  recedere. 

4  Poteram  .  .  .  omnes  propositionum  rivulos  uno  ecclesiae  sole  siccare. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  73 

plain  sentiment  of  my  mind, — that  we  are  to  abide  in  that 
Church,  which,  founded  by  the  Apostles,  endures  even  unto 
this  day." ' — T.  ii.  adv.  Luciferi.  n.  27,  col.  201.  For  con 
tinuation,  see  "  Apostolicity '." 

Commenting  on  Is.  xxvi.  18  :  "  They  shall  not  fall  who  have 
their  abode  in  the  universe,  and  their  resting-place  in  the 
Church,  which  is  the  abode  of  the  Father,  and  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost."2 — T.  iv.  Lib.  viii.  Comm.  in  Is.  col.  356.  A  similar 
passage  occurs  in  T.  vi.  L.  \.  Comm.  in  Mich.  col.  444,  445. 

"  Look  upon  Sion,  the  city  of  our  solemnity  (Is.  xxxiii.  20), 
behold  the  Church  of  Christ,  wherein  there  is  a  true  solem 
nity  :  Thine  eyes  shall  see  a  vision  of  peace,  and  unhoped-for 
treasures,  'which  eye  has  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither  have 
they  entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  and  a  tabernacle  that  can 
not  be  removed.  For  the  former  tabernacle  which  the  Jewish 
people  had  was  removed,  and  taken  away ;  neither  shall  the 
nails  thereof  be  moved  for  ever,  and  all  the  cords  thereof 
shall  he  firm;  so  that  the  Lord  shall  dwell  therein;  a  place 
of  all  the  rivers  and  flowing  streams  through  which  none 
of  the  adverse  party  shall  be  able  to  sail,  nor  the  great  Galley, 
which  signifies  the  Devil,  shall  be  able  to  pass  through  it, 
because  the  Lord  Himself  is  our  judge,  and  Prince,  and  King, 
and  Saviour,  and  under  His  protection  we  shall  not  fear  the 
snares  of  any  one." — Ibid.  L.  x.  col.  439,  440. 

"  There  stands  one  in  the  midst  of  you  whom  you  know  not; 
and  He  will  dwell  there  not  for  a  short  time,  as  in  the  syna 
gogue,  but  for  ever,  as  is  verified  in  the  Church  of  Christ." 3 — 
T.  v.  L.  xiii.  Comm.  in  Ezech.  col.  523. 

u  About  this  corn  and  wine  (the  Eucharist)  heretics  are  torn 
in  pieces,  and  build  unto  themselves  divers  tabernacles  ;  or  in 
fact  they  are  cut  off  from  the  body  of  the  Church,  and  affect 
to  meditate  and  to  muse  on  the  law  of  the  Lord.  But  doing 

1  In  ilia  ecclesia  permanendum,  quae  ab  apostolis  fundata  usque  ad  diem 
hanc  durat. 

2  Non  cadent  qui  sedent  in  orbe  terrarum,  et  requiescunt  in  ecclesia, 
habitaculum  Patris  .  .  .  est. 

3  Quod  in  Christi  ecclesia  comprobatur. 


74  AUTHORITY 

this  they  withdraw  from  the  Lord  who  taught  them  in  the 
Church,'  and  gave  them  strength  to  light  against  the  enemy. 
But  they  have  thought  evil  against  the  Lord,  raising  up  most 
impious  heresies,  and  have  retrograded  unto  the  condition  of 
the  Gentiles,  so  as  to  be  without  the  knowledge  and  the  yoke 
of  God  ;  or  they  have  reverted  to  nothingness  ;  not  that  they 
have  ceased  to  be,  ...  but  that  all  who  are  wise  against  the 
Lord,  are  said  not  to  be.  .  .  .  For  if  God  is  truth,  whatsoever  is 
opposed  to  the  truth  is  a  lie,  and  is  called  nothingness.  This 
suits  heretics,  who,  taught  out  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  turn  the 
words  of  the  Law  and  the  Prophets  and  the  Gospel  against  the 
Lord.'12— T7.  vi.  Z.  ii.  Comm.  in  Osee,  col.  80. 

"  As  lightning  cometh  out  of  the  east,  and  appeareth  even 
into  ike  west,  &c. — (Matt.  xxiv.  27.)  Go  ye  not  out,  believe 
not  that  the  Son  of  Man  is  either  in  the  desert  of  the  Gen 
tiles,  or  in  the  secret  chambers  of  the  heretics ;  but  that  from 
the  east  even  to  the  west  His  faith  shines  in  the  Catholic 
churches/11—  T.  vii.  Z.  iv.  Comm.  in  Matt.  196,  197. 

"And  lo  !  I  am  with  you  always,  even  unto  the  consumma 
tion  of  the  world.  He  that  promises  that  He  will  be  with 
the  Disciples  unto  the  consummation  of  the  world,  both  shows 
that  they  were  to  live  for  ever,  and  that  Himself  would  not 
withdraw  from  believers."4 — T.  vii.  Z.  iv.  Comm.  in  Matt, 
col.  2-M.6 

1  Sed  hoc  facientes  recedunt  a  Domino  qui  docuit  eos  in  ecclesia. 

2  Hoc  ha?reticis  convenit,  qui  instruct!  de  scripturis  sanctis  adversus 
Dominum  legis  .  .  .  verba  vertunt. 

3  Sed  quod  ab  oriente  usque  in  occidentem,  fides  ejus  in  catholicis  eccle- 
siis  fulgeat. 

4  Et  illis  ostendit  semper  esse  victuros,  et  se  nunquam  a  credentibus  re- 
cessurum. 

6  St.  Jerome's  writings  abound  with  brief,  but  emphatic  declarations, 
like  the  above.  "  The  Lord  sent  His  word  unto  the  Church,  which  has  sup 
planted  the  former  people,  and  it  hath  lighted  upon  Israel  (Is.  ix.),  that  is, 
upon  heretics,  who  boast  that  they  see  God.  Let  then  their  leaders  .  .  . 
who  say  that  they  keep  the  law  of  God  .  .  .  who,  in  the  pride  of  their 
heart,  despise  the  Church,  and  accounting  her  simplicity  ignorance,  say 
'  Instead  of  her  walls  of  brick,  we  will  build  our  churches  with  square,  and 
most  enduring  stones,'  which  the  Lord  will  beat  down,  &c." — T.  iv.  L  iv.  in 
Is.  col,  137.  [<<AU 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  ?5 

ST.  J.  CHRYSOSTOM,  G.  C.1— Expounding  /St.  Matt.  xxv.  lie 
says,  "  What,  then,  did  He  say,  when  He  beheld  them  1  All 

"All  the  leaders  of  heretics  have  gone  forth  from  the  Church  of  Christ 
to  the  synagogue  of  Satan,  and  they  have  passed  over  together,  disagreeing 
in  their  opposition  to  the  faith,  but  agreeing  in  their  leaving  it,  and  they 
are  bound  by  the  archers  (Is.  xxii.)"— lb.  I.  vii.  col.  311,  312.  He  had 
already  said  (Ibid.  I.  iii.  col.  102),  "In  this  heretics  agree,  to  assault  the 
Church."  "Every  heretic  is  born  in  the  Church,  but  is  cast  out  of  the 
Church,  and  he  contends  and  fights  against  his  parent." — lb.  1.  iv.  Comrn. 
in  Jerem.  col.  991. 

"Heretics  are  rebels  against  God  and  His  Church."—  T.  v.  I.  x.  Corn- 
men,  in  Ezech.  col.  892. 

"In  the  last  days,  when  the  fulness  of  the  gentiles  shall  have  come  in, 
and  all  Israel  shall  have  been  saved,  then  too  will  the  adversaries  (here 
tics  uti  supra)  who  have  fought  against  Judah,  and  the  confession  of  the 
Church,  return  to  the  ecclesiastical  faith  (qui  contra  .  .  .  confessionem  ec- 
clesias  pugnaverunt,  tradant  se  ecclesiastic®  fidei),  and,  abandoning  all  their 
errors,  and  the  princes  of  this  world  who  are  utterly  destroyed,  and  their 
chief  rulers  .  .  .  pass  over  to  the  faith  of  the  Church  (transeant  ad  eccle- 
siasticam  fidem),  and  become  clean,  and  the  people  of  God." — T.  v.  /.  xi.  in 
Ezech.  col.  441.  For  a  similar  passage  see  t.  vi.  in  Joel,  col.  211. 

"Heresy  shall  fight  against  heresy,  and  their  conflict  is  our  victory." — 
lb.  col.  451.  The  same  occurs  in  t.  vii.  in  Matt.  I.  iv.  col.  194. 

"  We  say  that  every  one  who  is  saved,  is  saved  in  the  Church,  or  in  the 
heavenly  Jerusalem." — T.  vi.  in  Joel,  col.  207. 

"Heretics  are,  from  the  very  fact  of  having  gone  out  of  the  Church, 
condemned  (ex  eo  quod  egressi  sunt  de  ecclesia,  damnati  sunt).  Let  here 
tics,  abandoning  the  errors  which  they  have  devised,  return  to  the  Church, 
hate  their  former  dogmas,  and  love  truth  in  the  Church  of  the  Lord."—?,  vi. 
1.  ii.  Comrn.  in  Amos,  col.  297. 

"Heretics  despise  the  Church  of  God,  and  confide  in  their  own  false 
doctrines,  lifting  themselves  up  against  the  knowledge  which  is  accord 
ing  to  God,  whose  people  they  have  torn  in  pieces." — lb.  1.  iii.  col.  344. 
"Which  of  the  heretics  is  not  lifted  up  with  pride,  setting  at  naught  the 
simplicity  of  the  Church,  and  accounting  faith,  ignorance ;  dwelling  in  the 
clefts  of  the  rock,  and  setting  up  their  throne  on  high  ?  (Abdias,  v.  3).  In 
the  clefts  of  the  rock,  to  signify  the  rupture  of  heretics  from  Christ  and 
from  the  Church."— Ibid.  Comm.  in  Abd.  col.  368.  "  To  speak  more  plainly, 
by  the  rivers  which  the  Lord  is  angry  with,  understand  the  eloquence  of 
heretics  which  flows  against  the  truth  and  the  Church."— lb.  1.  2,  Comm. 
in  Abacuc,  col.  645.  "The  doctrine  of  the  Gospel  which  our  mother  the 
Church  has  furnished  us  with."—  T.  vii.  1.  ii.  Comm.  in  Matth.  col.  94.  In 
his  Procem.  to  his  Comm.  in  Up.  ad  Philem.  he  says,  "They  who  defend 
this  epistle  as  of  genuine  authority,  say  that  it  never  would  have  been  re 
ceived  throughout  the  whole  world  by  all  the  Church,  had  it  not  been  be 
lieved  to  be  Paul's."—  Col.  743. 

1  Born  at  Antioch  in  344;  he  was  ordained  priest  in  383,  and  raised  to 
the  see  of  Constantinople  in  the  year  398.  His  eloquence  gained  him  the 
title  of  Chrysostom,  or  the  mouth  of  gold.  His  expositions  of  Scripture, 


76  AUTHORITY 

power  is  given  to  me  in  heaven  and  on  earth.  Again,  does 
He  address  them  as  men  ;  for  as  yet  they  had  not  received 
that  Spirit  which  had  power  to  make  them  elevated  :  l  Going 
teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  teaching  them  to 
observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you.  His 
commands  are  concerning  both  dogmas  and  precepts.  .  .  . 
Then,  whereas  he  had  commanded  them  great  things,  raising 
up  their  minds,  He  says,  Lo,  I  am  with  you  all  days,  even  to 
the  consummation  of  the  world.  Seest  thou  His  authority  ? 
Seest  thou  also  how,  for  condescension's  sake,  He  spoke  these 
things  ?  Not  with  them  only  did  He  say  He  would  be,  but 
also  with  all  those  who  shall  believe  after  them.  For  truly 
the  Apostles  were  not  going  to  remain  until  the  consumma 
tion  of  the  world  ;  but  He  addresses  Himself  to  the  believers 
as  one  body.2  For  tell  me  not,  He  says,  of  the  difficulty  of 
these  things,  for  /  am  with  you  /  I,  making  all  things  easy. 
The  same  also  He  had  frequently  said  to  the  prophets  in  the 
old  law  :  both  to  Jeremias,  when  putting  forward  his  youth, 
and  to  Moses  and  Ezechiel  when  they  drew  back  ;  /,  He  said, 
am  with  you.  That  same  does  He  also  say  to  these  men."- 
T.  vii.  Horn.  90,  in  Matt,  in  loco,  n.  2,  p.  950.  For  a 
similar  passage,  sec  t.  vi.  Horn.  xv.  in  Matt.  n.  i.  p.  213. 
See  the  extracts  under  "  Indefectibility." 

especially  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  are  very  valuable.  This  illustrious  pre 
late  died  on  his  road  to  exile,  in  the  year  407.  The  edition  used  is  the  re 
print  of  the  Bened.  Paris.  1837. 


2  GJ?  kvi  doJiian  diahfyerat  ro?5 

3  "  But  the  Lord,  he  says,  be,  with  you.      This  we  may  also  pray  for  our 
selves,  if  we  do  the  things  of  the  Lord.     For  hearken  to  Christ  saying  to  the 
disciples,  Going  teach  all  nations  .  .  .  Lo,  I  am  with  you  always,  even  unto 
the  consummation  of  the  world.     Not  only  to  them  were  these  things  said, 
but  also  to  us.     For  that  the  promise  is  not  made  to  them  only,  but  also  to 
those  who  walk  in  their  steps,  is  manifest  from  the  saying,  until  the  con 
summation  of  the  world."  —  T.  xi.  Horn.  v.  in  Ep.  ii.  ad  Thess.  n.  4,  p.  628. 

"And  if  he  will  not  hear  them,  tell  the.  Church,  that  is,  the  rulers 
(rors  7rpo£dpevov(3iv)."—T.  vii.  Horn.  60  in  Matth.  n.  2,  p.  684. 

"  The  Church  is  the  pillar  of  the  world  (GrvXoS  k6n  rff^,  ofaovnevrfS  77 
tKKXr}6ia)."—T.  xi.  Comm.  in  1  Tim.  iii.  ir>.  How.  \M.  n.  1.  p.  667. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  77 

ST.  GAUDENTIUS  OF  BKESCIA,  L.  C.1 — "Neither  did  the 
Father,  as  we  have  already  said,  leave  the  Son,  who  was  sent  / 
neither,  as  is  proved,  was  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  was  to  be  sent 
to  the  Apostles,  ever  absent  from  the  Father  and  the  Son ;  yet 
so,  that  the  Son  of  God  only  was  incarnate :  for  the  Word  was 
made  flesh,  as  we  read,  and  not  the  Father,  not  the  Spirit. 
But  in  what  manner  the  Son  of  God  accomplished  this  mys 
tery  of  the  Incarnation,  without  injury  to  the  unity  of  the 
Trinity,  Omnipotence  itself  is  the  witness ;  seeing  that  that 
same  Son  of  God  in  such  wise  ascended  into  heaven  with  the 
body  of  man  which  He  had  taken  on  Him,  as  to  continue 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  world  with  His  disciples.  For, 
Belwld  I  am,  says  He,  with  you  all  days,  even  to  the  consum 
mation  of  the  world.  (Matt,  xxviii.)  Even  to  the  consumma 
tion  of  the  world,  He  says,  I  am  with  you  /  not  only  with  the 
Apostles,  but  with  the  disciples,  to  wit,  with  all  believers." 
-Tr.  xiv.  De  Promise.  Farad,  p.  966,  t.  v.  Bill.  Max.  PP. 

CENTURY    V. 

ST.  AUGUSTINE,  L.  C.a — "  Wherefore,  seeing  that  so  great  is 
the  blindness  of  the  understanding  through  the  lilthiness  of 
sins  and  the  love  of  the  flesh,  that  even  these  monsters  of  opin 
ions  could  waste  away  the  leisure  of  the  learned  in  dispu 
tation  ;  can  you,  Dioscorus,  or  can  any  one  gifted  with  an 
observant  disposition,  doubt,  that  any  better  plan  could  have 
been  devised  for  mankind  to  follow  truth,  than  that  Truth 
itself  .  .  .  should  persuade  mankind  to  believe  wholesomely, 
what  could  not  as  yet  be  understood  clearly  ?  To  His  glory 
are  we  subservient,  we  exhort  thee  to  believe  immovably  and 
unchangeably  in  Him,  through  whom  it  has  been  that  not  a 
few,  but  peoples  even,  who  are  unable  to  judge  of  these 

1  He  was  bishop  of  Brescia,  about  the  year  387,  and  died  about,  the  year 
410.  The  edition  used  is  that  given  in  the  Bibl.  Max.  t.  v. 

*  Born  at  Tagaste  in  354;  he  was  baptized  at  Milan  in  387,  ordained 
priest  in  391,  and  appointed  coadjutor  bishop  in  the  See  of  Hippo  in  395. 
His  numerous  works  display  genius  of  the  highest  order,  and  have  ever 
had  great  weight  in  the  Christian  churches.  He  died  in  the  year  430.  The 
edition  used  is  the  reprint  of  the  Bened.  Paris.  1836,  1837. 


78  AUTHORITY 

things  by  reason,  believe  them  by  faith.  .  .  .  Now  they  who, 
though  they  are  not  in  Catholic  unity  and  communion,  pride 
themselves  nevertheless  in  the  name  Christian,  are  obliged  to 
be  opposed  to  believers,  and  try  to  lead  men  as  it  were  by  rea 
son,  whereas  the  Lord  came  with  this  remedy  especially, — to 
enjoin  faith  on  the  nations.  But  this,  as  I  have  said,  these 
men  are  obliged  to  do,  because  they  are  sensible  that  they 
lie  very  abject  indeed,  if  their  authority  be  compared  with 
Catholic  authority.1  Therefore  do  they  strive,  by  the  name, 

1  Jacere  se  abjectissime  sentiimt,  si  eorum  auctoritas  cum  auctoritate 
catholica  conferatur. 

So,  writing  against  the  Manichaeans,  who  pretended,  by  the  aid  of  their 
paraclete,  "surveying  all  (the  Scriptures)  and  comparing  one  with  another, 
to  weigh  whether  each  thing  could  have  been  said  by  Christ  or  no  (Contra 
Faust.  L.  xxxiii.  3),"  he  says:  "You  see,  then,  that  you  effect  this,  that  the 
whole  authority  of  the  Scriptures  be  utterly  destroyed,  and  that  every  one's 
judgment  be  his  authority,  what  in  each  Scripture  he  shall  approve,  what 
disapprove:  that  he  be  not  subjected,  that  is,  for  faith  to  the  authority  of 
the  Scriptures,  but  subject  the  Scriptures  to  himself ;  and  that  he  approve 
not  a  thing  because  it  stands  written  in  that  sublime  authority;  but  that  it 
be  deemed  rightly  written,  because  himself  approves  of  it.  To  what  doest 
thou  trust  thyself,  0  miserable  soul,  weak  and  involved  in  the  darkness  of 
the  flesh?  To  what  doest  thou  trust  thyself?  Set  aside  authority,  then; 
let  us  see:  set  authority  aside,  let  us  have  your  reasoning.  [Having  given  a 
part  of  the  Manicha?an  system,  he  asks]  Whence  knowest  thou  these  things? 
Assuredly,  you  say,  Manicha^us  taught  me  them.  But,  unhappy  man,  thou 
hast  taken  them  on  credit ;  for  thou  hast  not  seen  them.  If,  then,  thou 
hast  submitted  thyself  to  an  authority,  utterly  unknown  and  frenzied,  so 
as  to  believe  the  thousands  of  fabulous  phantoms  with  which  thou  art 
shamefully  burdened,  because  they  are  written  in  those  books,  which,  by  a 
miserable  error,  thou  hast  judged  right  to  believe  in,  why  not  rather  submit 
thyself  to  the  evangelical  authority,  so  founded,  so  established,  so  gloriously 
spread  abroad,  and  commended  by  the  most  certain  successions  from  the 
times  of  the  Apostles  to  our  own,  that  thou  mayest  believe,  mayest  see, 
mayest  learn  that  all  those  things  also  which  offend  thee,  offend  thee 
through  a  vain  and  perverse  imagination?"* — T.  viii.  Contr.  Faust.  L. 
xxxii.  n.  19,  pp.  705,  706.  For  a  similar  argument,  see  Ib.  L.  xxxiii.  n.  ix. 
p.  717. 

*  Cur  non  potius  evangelica?  auctoritati,  tarn  fundatae,  tarn  stability, 
tanta  gloria  diuamata?,  atque  ab  apostolorum  temporibus  usque  ad  nostra 
tempora  per  successiones  certissimas  commendatae,  non  te  subdis,  ut  credas, 
ut  videas,  ut  discas  etiam  omnia  ilia  qua1  te  offendunt,  ex  vana  et  perversa 
opinione  te  offendere.  So  again,  Ib.  Contr.  Faust.  L.  xxxii.  n.  6,  p.  714: 
"These  things  being  so,  who  can  be  blinded  with  such  frenzy,  as  to  say 
that  the  Church  of  the  Apostles,  the  agreement,  so  faithful  and  so  numerous 
of  the  brethren,  were  unable  to  deserve  to  transmit  faithfully  to  posterity 
the  writings  of  those  men  (the  Apostles),  whereas  they  have  preserved  their 
chairs  by  a  most  certain  succession  down  to  the  present  bishops." 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  79 

as  it  were,  and  promise  of  reason,  to  be  superior  to  the 
most  solid  authority  of  the  firmly  established  Church.1  For 
this  is,  as  it  were,  the  regular  temerity  of  all  heretics.  But 
that  most  merciful  enjoiner  of  faith,  both  by  the  most  glori 
ous  assemblages  of  peoples  and  nations,  and  by  the  chairs 
themselves  of  the  Apostles,  has  defended  the  Church  with  the 
citadel  of  authority.2  .  .  .  Now  that  discipline  is  most  proper 
which  receives  the  infirm  into  the  citadel,  that,  for  them  thus 
already  placed  most  safely,  the  battle  may  be  fought  with 
reason  the  most  powerful." — T.  ii.  Ep.  cxviii.  Dioscor.  (Class. 
ii.)  n.  %%,pp.  510,  511. 

Having  shown  the  office  and  authority  of  the  Church  and 
of  the  priesthood,  he  uses  this  illustration  :  "  Hence  also, 
Paul,  on  hearing  the  voice  of  the  Lord,  Why  persecutest 
thou  me  f  and,  /  am  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  whom  thou  perse- 
cutest,  was  nevertheless  sent  to  Ananias,  that  by  that  priest 
hood  which  is  established  in  the  Church,  he  might  receive 
the  sacrament  of  the  doctrine  of  faith,  and  his  color  (alluding 
to  the  leprosy)  be  approved  of  as  true.  Not  that  the  Lord 
is-  not  able  by  Himself  to  do  all  things,  for  what  other  but 
He  does  these  things  even  in  the  Church  \  " 3 — T.  iii.  1.  ii. 
Qucest.  Evangel,  n.  ±0,pp.  1644,  1645. 

"  Thou  shalt  protect  them  in  Thy  tabernacle  (Psalm  xxx.  21). 
What  is  the  tabernacle  f  The  Church  of  this  time.  ...  In  this 
tabernacle,  therefore,  wilt  Thou  protect  them  from  the  contra 
diction  of  tongues.  There  is  a  contradiction  of  many  tongues  / 
divers  heresies,  divers  schisms  cry  aloud ;  many  tongues  contra 
dict  the  true  doctrine.  Do  thou  run  to  the  tabernacle  of  God, 
hold  fast  the  Catholic  Church,  do  not  withdraw  from  the  rule 
of  truth,4  and  thou  shalt  be  protected  from  the  contradiction 
of  tongues" — T.  iv.  Enar.  in  Ps.  xxx.  n.  8,  p.  238. 

1  Conantur  auctoritatem  stabilissimam  f  undatissimse  ecclesiae  .  .  .  supe- 
rare. 

2  Sedesque  ipsas  apostolorura,  arce  auctoritatis  raunivit  ecclesiara. 

3  Ut  illo  sacerdotio  quod  in  ecclesia  constitutura  est,  sacramentum  doc- 
trinae  fidei  perciperet  .  .  .  quis  alms  haec  facit  etiam  in  ecclesia? 

4  Ecclesiam  catholicam  tene,  a  regula  veritatis  noli  discedere. 


80  AUTHORITY 

"  What  then,  some  one  says,  does  an  infant  also  need  a 
redeemer  ?  Yes,  it  needs  one  ;  of  this  the  mother  who  runs 
faithfully  with  her  little  child  to  the  Church  to  be  baptized 
is  a  witness ;  of  this  is  a  witness  our  mother  the  Church 
herself,  which  receives  the  infant  to  be  cleansed,  and  to  be 
dismissed  freed,  or  to  be  nourished  in  piety.  Who  will  dare 
to  utter  a  testimony  in  opposition  to  so  great  a  mother  ?  "  '— 
T.  v.  Svrmo  ccxciii.  n.  10,  p.  1735.  For  a  similar  passage, 
see  Ibid.  Sermo  ccxciv.  n.  17,  p.  1752,  B. 

"  In  the  Catholic  Church,  not  to  mention  that  most  sound 
wisdom,  to  the  knowledge  of  which  a  few  spiritual  men 
attain  in  this  life,  so  as  to  know  it  in  a  very  small  measure 
indeed,  for  they  are  but  men,  but  still  to  know  it  without 
doubtfulness, — for  not  quickness  of  understanding,  but  sim 
plicity  in  believing,  that  makes  the  rest  of  the  masses  most 
safe,2 — not  to  mention,  therefore,  this  wisdom,  which  you 
(Manichees)  do  not  believe  to  be  in  the  Catholic  Church, 
many  other  things  there  are  which  most  justly  keep  me  in 
her  bosom.  The  agreement  of  peoples  and  of  nations  keeps 
me  ; 3  an  authority  begun  with  miracles,  nourished  with  hope, 
increased  with  charity,  strengthened  (confirmed)  by  anti 
quity,  keeps  me  ;  the  succession  of  priests  from  the  chair 
itself  of  the  Apostle  Peter — unto  whom  the  Lord,  after  His 
resurrection  committed  His  sheep  to  be  fed — down  even  to 
the  present  bishop,  keeps  me  ;  finally,  the  name  itself  of  the 

1  Quis  audeat  dicere  testimonium  contra  tantara  raatrem? 

2  Caeteram  quippe  turbam  non  intelligendi  vivacitas,  sed  credendi  sim- 
plicitas  tutissimam  facit.     So,  in  his  treatise  de  Util.   Cred.  c.  ii.  p.  99,  t. 
viii. — "  They  (the  Manichees)  sacrilegiously  and  rashly  inveigh  against  those 
who,  following  the  authority  of  Catholic  faith  (catholicse  fidei  auctoritatem 
sequentes),  before  they  are  able  to  see  that  truth  which  is  beheld  by  the  pure 
mind,  are  from  the  first  fortified  by  believing,  and  prepared  for  the  en 
lightening  of  God.*' 

3  Tenet  consensio  populorura  atque  gentium.    So  again,  later  in  the 
same  epistle,  p.  279:  "If  I  am  to  believe  things  without  understanding 
them,  why  should  I  not  rather  believe  those  which  are  already  publicly  at 
tested  by  the  consent  of  learned  and  unlearned,  and  are  confirmed,  by  an 
authority  the  most  weighty,  in  all  nations  (et  per  omnes  populos  gravissima 
auctoritate  firmata  sunt)  ?  " 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  81 

Catholic  Church  keeps  me,1— a  name  which,  in  the  midst  of 
so  many  heresies,  this  Church  alone  has,  not  without  cause, 
so  held  possession  of  (or  obtained),3  as  that,  though  all  here 
tics  would  fain  have  themselves  called  Catholics,  yet,  to 
the  inquiry  of  any  stranger,  <  Where  is  the  meeting  of  the 
Catholic  Church  held  ? '  no  heretic  would  dare  to  point  out 
his  own  basilica,  or  house.  These,  therefore,  so  numerous 
and  so  powerful  ties  of  the  Christian  name,  ties  most  dear, 
justly  keep  a  believing  man  in  the  Catholic  Church,  even 
though  through  the  slowness  of  our  understanding  or  the 
deservings  of  our  lives,  truth  show  not  herself  as  yet  in  her 
clearest  light.  Whereas,  amongst  you,  where  are  none  of 
these  things  to  invite  and  keep  me,  there  is  only  the  loud 
promise  of  truth,3  which,  if  it  be  indeed  shown  to  be  so 
manifest  as  not  to  be  able  to  be  called  into  doubt,  is  to  be 
preferred  before  all  those  things  by  which  I  am  kept  in  the 
Catholic  Church  ;  but  which,  if  it  be  only  promised,  and 
not  exhibited,  no  one  shall  move  me  from  that  faith  which 
attaches  my  mind  to  the  Christian  religion  by  ties  so  nume 
rous  and  so  powerful.  Wherefore,  let  us  see  what  Manichseus 
would  teach  me.  ...  He  begins  his  letter,  <  Manichseus,  an 
Apostle  of  Jesus  Christ.'  .  .  .  Now  attend,  if  you  please,  with 
all  patience,  to  what  I  am  going  to  ask.  I  do  not  believe 
that  this  man  is  an  Apostle  of  Christ.  Do  not,  I  pray  you, 
be  angry,  and  begin  to  revile.  For  you  know  what  my  deter 
mination  is, — not  to  believe,  without  cause  shown,  anything 
advanced  by  you.  I  ask,  therefore,  who  is  this  Manichseus  ? 
You  will  answer,  <  An  apostle  of  Christ.'  I  do  not  believe 
it ;  what  next  to  say  or  do  you  will  not  know ;  for  your 
promise  was  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  and  now  you 
would  compel  me  to  believe  that  of  which  I  have  no  know 
ledge.  You  are  perhaps  going  to  read  me  the  Gospel,  and 

1  Tenet  auctoritas  miraculis  inchoata,  spe  nutrita,  charitate  aucta,  ve- 
tustate  firmata  ;  tenet  ab  ipsa  sede  Petri  .  .  .  usque  ad  prsesentem  epis- 
copum  successio  sacerdotum  :  tenet  postremo  ipsum  Catholicse  nomen. 

2  Sic  ista  ecclesia  sola  obtinuit. 

3  Sola  personat  veritatis  pollicitatio. 


82  AUTHORITY 

will  try  to  establish  the  character  of  Manichseus  from  that. 
But  suppose  you  should  meet  with  some  one  who  does  not 
as  yet  believe  the  Gospel,  what  would  you  do  with  such  an 
one  when  he  says  to  you,  I  do  not  believe  it  ?  I,  for  my 
part,  would  not  believe  the  Gospel,  unless  the  authority  of 
the  Catholic  Church  moved  me  to  it.1  Those,  therefore,  to 
whom  I  have  submitted,  when  saying  to  me,  '  Believe  the  Gos 
pel,'  why  should  I  not  submit  to  them  when  they  say  to  me, 
'  Do  not  believe  the  Manichaeans  '  ?  Choose  which  you  will. 
If  you  say,  *  Believe  the  Catholics,'  they  warn  me  not  to  give 
any  credit  to  you  ;  wherefore,  whilst  I  believe  them,  I  cannot 
but  not  believe  you.  If  you  say,  *  Do  not  believe  the  Catho 
lics,'  it  will  not  be  right  for  you  to  force  me  to  the  faith  of 
Manichaeus  by  means  of  the  Gospel,  inasmuch  as  I  believed 
that  very  Gospel  itself  at  the  bidding  (teaching)  of  the  Catho 
lics.2  But  if  you  should  say,  '  You  have  done  right  in 
believing  the  Catholics  when  they  praise  the  Gospel,  but  you 
have  not  done  right  in  believing  them  when  they  blame 
Manichseus,'  do  you  think  me  so  foolish,  as,  without  reason 
assigned,  to  believe  just  what  you  choose,  and  to  disbelieve 
just  what  you  choose  ?  Much  more  justly  indeed,  and  more 
cautiously  do  I  act,  if,  after  having  once  (on  one  point)  be 
lieved  the  Catholics,  I  refuse  to  pass  over  to  you  ;  unless,  not 
content  with  bidding  me  believe,  you  cause  me  to  obtain 
some  knowledge,  and  that  most  manifestly  and  most  plainly.3 
Wherefore  if  you  are  going  to  assign  me  some  reasonable 
proof,  set  aside  the  Gospel.  If  you  keep  yourself  to  the 
Gospel,  I  will  keep  myself  to  those  at  whose  bidding  I  have 
believed  the  Gospel ; 4  and  by  their  command  I  will  not 

1  Ego  vero  evangelic  non  crederem,  nisi  me  Catholicae  ecclesiae  com- 
moveret  auctoritas. 

2  Ipsi  evangelic  Catholicis  praedicantibus  credidi. 

3  Multo  enim  justius  atque  cautius  facio,  si  Catholicis  quoniam  serael 
credidi,  ad  te  non  transeo,  nisi  me,  non  credere  jusseris,  sed  manifestissime 
atque  apertissime  scire  aliquid  feceris. 

*  Si  ad  evangelium  te  tenes,  ego  me  ad  eos  teneam,  quibus  praecipienti- 
bus  evangelio  credidi. 


OF  THE   CHURCH.  33 

believe  you  at  all.  Now,  if  it  should  happen  that  you  could 
find  in  the  Gospel  something  most  plain  concerning  the 
apostleship  of  Manictoeus,  you  will  invalidate,  in  my  regard, 
the  authority  of  the  Catholics  who  bid  me  not  believe  you  \ 
and,  that  authority  invalidated,  it  will  then  be  out  of  my 
power  to  believe  even  the  Gospel,  inasmuch  as  through 
them  I  had  believed  it : '  so  that  whatever  you  may  adduce 
thence,  will  have  no  force  with  me.  Wherefore,  if  nothing 
plain  is  found  in  the  Gospel  concerning  the  apostleship  of 
Manichams,  I  will  believe  the  Catholics  rather  than  you  ; 
whereas,  should  you  read  from  it  something  clearly  in  favor 
of  Manicheeus,  I  will  neither  believe  them  nor  you.  Not 
them,  because  they  have  deceived  me  in  regard  of  you ;  not 
you,  because  you  produce  me  that  Scripture  which  I  have 
believed  through  those  who  have  thus  deceived  me.  But 
God  forbid  that  I  should  not  believe  the  Gospel !  "— T.  viiL 
Contr.  Ep.  Manichm,  Fundam.  n.  5,  6,  col.  268-270. 

Showing  the  folly  of  the  Manichaeans  in  rejecting  at  plea 
sure  such  texts,  or  portions  of   Scripture,  as  could   not  be 
reconciled  with  their  system,  he   says,  addressing  Faustus  : 
"Art  thou,  then,  the  standard  of  truth?     Is  whatsoever  is 
opposed  to  thee,  false  ?     But  what  if  some  other  person,  con 
founded  with  a  madness  like  thine,  and  with  thy  obstinacy, 
come  forward  and  say,  <  Nay,  what  sounds  favorably  to  thee 
is  false,  and  what  against  thee,  is  true  '  ?  what  wilt  thou  do, 
unless  perhaps  thou  try  to  bring  forward  some  other  book,' 
wherein  everything  read  by  thee  may  be  interpreted  in  ac 
cordance  with    thy  opinion  ?     Shouldst  thou   do   this,  thou 
wilt  hear  him  impugning  not  a  part,  but  the  whole,  and  cry 
ing  out  <  It  is  (all)  false.'     What  wilt  thou  do  ?     Whither 
turn  thyself?      What  origin,  what  antiquity,  what  series  of 
succession  wilt  thou  cite  as  a  witness  for  the  book  brought 
forward  by  thee  ?      For  even  if  thou  attempt  this,  yet  will 
it  not  avail  thee  anything;  and  thou   seest   of   what   avails, 

1  Qua  (auctoritate)  infirmata,  jam  nee  evangelic  credere  potero  quia  per 
eos  illi  credideram. 


AUTHORITY 


in  this  matter,  the  authority  of  the  Catholic  Church,—  an 
authority  which  is  confirmed  (or  firmly  settled)  by  a  line  of 
bishops  succeeding,  even  unto  the  present  day,  each  other, 
from  those  most  solidly-founded  chairs  of  the  Apostles,  and 
by  the  consent  of  so  many  peoples."  '  —Ib.  I.  xi.  Contr.  Fans- 
turn,  n.  2,  p.  364. 

"  Now,  although  no  example  of  the  matter  in  question  (wheth 
er  a  person  baptized  by  a  heretic  ought  to  be  rebaptized)  can 
be  produced  from  the  canonical  Scriptures  ;  yet,  in  this  matter 
also,  is  the  truth  of  the  canonical  Scriptures  held  by  us,  since 
we  do  that  which  has  now  obtained  the  sanction  of  the  uni 
versal  Church,  which  (Church)  the  authority  of  the  Scriptures 
themselves  commends:'   so   that,   as    holy   Scripture   cannot 
deceive,  whoso  fears  to  be  deceived  by  the  obscurity  of  this 
question,  may  consult  on  it  that  same  Church  which,  without 
any  ambiguity,  holy  Scripture  points  out  (demonstrates).3     But 
if  thou  doubtest  that  this  holy  Scripture  commends  the  Church 
which,  in  most  abundant  masses,  is  diffused  throughout  all 
nations  (for  if  thou  didst  not  doubt,  thou  wouldst  not  still  be 
in  the  party  of  Donatus),  I  will  overwhelm  thee  with  'many 
most  manifest  testimonies  from  the  said  authority,  so  that  if 
thou  wilt  not  be  beyond  measure  perverse,  thou  shalt,  by  thine 
own  concessions,  be  brought  to  this  also."  -T.  ix.  I  1,  Contr. 
Crescon.  Donat.  n.  39,  p.  638. 

ST.  ISIDORE  OF  PELUSIUM,  G.  C.4—  "Every  writing  which  has 
for  its  aim  true  religion  is  commendable,  very  beautiful,  and 
deserving  of  praise.  But  the  sacred  volumes,  which  contain 

1  Vides  in  hac  re  quid  ecclesiae  catholicae  valeat  auctoritas,  qu*  .  .  . 
episcoporum  serie,  et  tot  populorum  consensione  firmatur. 

2  Cum  hoc  facimus,  quod  universae  jam  placuit  ecclesia?,  quam  ipsarum 
scripturarum  commendat  auctoritas. 

3  Eandem  ecclesiam  de  ilia  consulat,  quam  sine  ulla  ambiguitate  sancta 
scriptura  demonstrat. 

*  The  disciple  of  St.  J.  Chrysostom.     The  year  of  his  birth  is  not  known  ; 
but  he  died  in  the  year  440.     He  derives  his  name  from  having  passed  many 
years  of  his  life  in  solitude  near  the  city  of  Pelusium,  or  Damiata. 
ters  display  great  judgment,  precision,  and  learning.     The  edition  use< 
that  of  Prunaus,  Ritterhusius,  and  Schotti.  Paris.  1C38. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  85 

the  testimonies  of  the  divine  writings,  are  steps  whereby  to 
ascend  unto  God.  All  those  books,  therefore,  that  are  set 
before  thee  in  the  Church  of  God,  receive  as  tried  gold, 
they  having  been  tried  in  the  fire  by  the  divine  Spirit  of 
the  truth.  But  leave  aside  those  which  are  scattered  about 
without  that  Church,1  —  even  though  they  may  contain  some 
thing  persuasive  to  holiness,  —  to  be  sought  after  and  kept  by 
those  who  are  free  from  conflicts  like  thine."  —  L.  1,  Ep.  ccclxix. 
Gyro,  p.  96,  Paris.  1638. 

ST.  PAULINUS  OF  KOLA,  L.  C.2  —  Let  Him  kiss  me  with  the 
kiss  of  His  mouth.  —  (Cant,  i.)  "  This  privilege  Catholic  love 
alone  has  a  right  to  claim  for  itself  ;  she,  that  is  the  alone  one, 
and  the  perfect  one  to  her  one  bridegroom  (Cant.  vi.  8),  takes 
the  kisses  of  truth  from  the  Word  Himself,3  that  she  may  not 
be  defiled  by  the  venom  of  heretical  deceitfulness,  as  though 
by  incestuous  kisses  from  a  stranger's  lips."  —  Ep.  iv.  ad  Seve- 
rum,  p.  ITT.  T.  vi.  Bib.  Max.  SS.  PP. 

PAULUS  OROSIUS,  L.  C.4  —  "  The  Fathers  with  one  accord,  and 
the  Martyrs,  who  are  now  at  rest,  Cyprian,  Hilary,  and  Am 
brose,  as  also  they  who  are  still  in  the  flesh,  and  are  the  pillars 
and  supports  of  the  Catholic  Church,  Aurelius,  Augustine, 
Jerome,  have  already  in  their  highly  -approved  writings,  pub 
lished  much  against  this  wicked  heresy  (Pelagianism),  though 
without  specifying  the  names  of  the  heretics.  And  if  Celes- 
tius  and  Pelagius,  who  seem  to  be  alive,  and  are  dead,  should 
now  persevere  in  these  dogmas,  then  clearly  do  they  openly,  as 


Ildrra  roivvv  rd  kv  EKH\.rj6ioL  Qeov  Tfpoticpepojuera 

xpvtiiov,  TtSTCvpttjuera  rep  Qsica  rtfl  dhyQeiaS  Ttvevjuazri.     Td 


2  Born  at  Bordeaux  about  the  year  353,  he  was  ordained  priest  in  393, 
and  was  appointed  bishop  of  Nola  in  409.     The  edition  used  is  that  given  in 
the  Bill.  Max.  SS.  PP.  t.  vi.  ;  also,  for  additional  poems,  Q-allandius,  t. 
viii. 

3  Quas  unica  atque  perfecta  uni  viro  ab  ipsius  ore  Verbi  petit  oscula 
veritatis. 

4  A  Spanish  priest,  who  was  sent  in  414  to  St.  Augustine,  whose  disciple 
and  friend  he  was.     His  "History  of  the  World"  is  valuable,  and  has  been 
frequently  translated.     The  edition  used  is  that  of  the  Bibl.  Max.  SS.  PP. 
t.  vi.     His  works  are  also  in  Gallandius,  t.  viii. 


86  AUTHORITY 

serpents,  hiss  against  the  Church,  a  thing  most  lamentable,1 
and,  more  lamentable  still,  they  do  this  in  the  Church.  .  .  . 
My  answer  to  this  (viz.  Gen.  xvii.  1 ;  Luke  i.  6,  quoted  in  sup 
port  of  Pelagianism)  was :  '  We  are  children  of  the  Catholic 
Church.  Require  not  of  us  to  presume  to  be  teachers  above 
the  teachers,  or  judges  above  the  judges.'  The  Fathers  whom 
the  universal  Church  throughout  the  world  approves,  to  whose 
communion  it  is  a  matter  of  rejoicing  with  you  that  we  ad 
here,  have  decreed  that  these  dogmas  are  damnable.  It  becomes 
us  to  obey,  when  they  adjudge.3  Why  ask  the  children  what 
their  sentiments  are,  when  you  hear  what  the  Fathers  decide  ? " 
— De  ArUtrii  Libert,  p.  449,  t.  vi.  Bib.  Max.  SS.  PP. 

ST.  PROSPER  OF  AQUITAIN,  L.  C.3 — The  sun  hath  arisen,  and 
they  are  gatJiered  together. — (Ps.  ciii.  22.)  "  The  sun  hath 
risen,  because  the  sun  went  down ;  that  is,  Christ  after  death 
rose  again,  and  filled  the  whole  world  with  a  manifestation  of 
His  brightness ;  and  although  darkness  may  still  linger  in  the 
hearts  of  unbelievers,  yet  the  Church  throughout  the  whole 
world,  in  which  the  sun  hath  arisen,  is  in  the  midst  of  light.4 
.  .  .  Therein  the  ships  shall  go  (11.  26).  Though  (the  princes 
of  this  world)  may  oppose  the  Christian  religion,  yet  is  the 
course  of  our  ships  safe  in  the  midst  of  them ;  that  is,  amidst 
the  storms  and  waves  of  the  sea,  the  career  of  the  Church  is, 
Christ  presiding,  safe."— In  Ps.  ciii.  col.  389,  390.  See  also 
In  Ps.  cviii.  col.  414,  under  " Indef edibility" 

Thy  truth  from  generation  to  generation,  Thou  hast  founded 

1  Ecce  adversus  ecclesiam,  quod  miserum  est,  sibilant. 

2  Nos  filii  ecclesia?  Catholicae  sumus.     Non  exigas  a  nobis  pater  ut  doc- 
tores  super  doctores  esse  audeamus,  judices  super  judices.  .  .  .  Illis  proban- 
tibus,  nos  obedire  dignum  est. 

3  St.  Prosper,  the  disciple  of  St.  Augustine,  and  the  friend  and  secretary 
of  Pope  Leo.     Neither  the  year  of  his  birth  nor  of  his  death  is  known  with 
certainty,  but,  according  to  the  Chronicle  of  Marcellinus,  he  was  still  living 
in  463.     The  edition  used  is  that  of  Mangeant,  Paris.  1711.     This  edition 
also  contains  the  treatise,  "De  Vocatione  Gentium,"  which  the  fratres  Bal- 
lerinii,  in  their  edition  of  St.  Leo's  works,  show  to  be  the  production  of 
another  Prosper,  a  writer  of  the  fifth  century;  as  also  Julianus  Pomerianus, 
De  Vita  Contemplativa,  &c. 

4  Ecclesia  tamen  toto  orbe  terrarum,  cui  sol  est  ortus,  in  lumine  est. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  §7 

the  earth,  and  it  continueth  (Ps.  cxviii.  90,  Lamed).  "  After 
the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  he  had  regard  also  to  his  (or  her) 
daughter,  the  Church,  which  abides  in  this  world,  and  he  said, 
Thy  truth  from  generation  to  generation.  But,  by  this  repeti 
tion,  he  either  signified  all  generations  to  which  the  truth  of 
God  was  not  wanting,  or  he  wished  two  generations  to  be  un 
derstood  ;  one  to  wit,  pertaining  to  the  Law  and  the  Prophets, 
and  the  other  to  the  Gospel,  (based)  on  the  everlasting  founda 
tion,  which  is  Christ ;  and  the  earth  continueth,  which  (earth) 
stablished  on  such  a  foundation  is  not  moved  for  ever  and 
ever." — In  Ps.  cxviii.  col.  451. 

The  sun  shall  not  burn  thee  by  day,  nor  the  moon  by  night. 
—(Ps.  cxx.  6.)  "  By  the  sun,  Christ,  the  true  light,  is  signi 
fied  ;  and  by  the  moon,  the  Church,  made  by  (His)  illumina 
tion  a  light,  is  signified.  As,  therefore,  every  scandal,  where 
by  man  is  either  weakened  or  burned,  springs  from  two  causes, 
in  that  he  either  errs  in  the  confession  of  the  Godhead,  or  with 
draws  from  the  unity  of  the  Church,  the  protection  of  God 
bestows  this,  that,  in  faith  and  charity,  which  are  His  gifts,  we 
be  not  overcome  by  any  temptation." — In  Ps.  cxx.  col.  467. 

Until  I  find  a  place  for  the  Lord,  a  tabernacle  for  the  God 
of  Jacob. — (Ps.  cxxxiv.  5.)  "  He,  therefore,  is  made  a  place 
for  the  Lord,  and  a  tabernacle  for  the  God  of  Jacob,  whoso 
is  united  to  the  Church ; '  whoso,  by  the  spirit  of  charity,  is 
joined  to  the  body  of  Christ,  nor  ever  seeks  to  be  blessed,  save 
in  that  house,  of  which  it  is  said  :  Blessed  are  they  that  dwell 
in  Thy  house,  0  Lord :  they  shall  praise  Thee  for  ever  and 
ever." — In  Ps.  cxxxi.  col.  481. 

He  hath  blessed  thy  children  within  thee. — (Ps.  cxlvii.  13.) 
"  Out  of  Jerusalem  there  is  no  blessing.  For  no  one  is  sanc 
tified  save  he  who  is  united  to  the  Church,  which  is  the  body 
of  Christ." 2— In  Ps.  cxlvii.  col.  526. 

ST.  OELESTIN  L,  POPE,  L.  C.3— "Know  then  plainly,  that 

1  Qui  ecclesiae  cooptatur. 

2  Non  sanctificatur,  nisi  qui  ecclesiae,  quae  est  Christi  corpus,  unitur. 

8  He  ascended  the  Papal  chair  in  the  year  422,  and  died  in  432.  He 
strenuously  opposed  the  Nestorian  and  Pelagian  heresies.  The  edition  used 


88  AUTHORITY 

this  is  our  sentence,  that  unless  you  (Nestorius)  teach  con 
cerning  Christ  our  God,  what  both  the  church  of  Home,  and 
of  Alexandria,  and  the  whole  Catholic  Church  holds,  and  as 
the  holy  church  in  the  great  city  of  Constantinople  also  has, 

is  that  of  Gallandius,  t.  ix.,  who  follows  Constant.  The  following  is  given  by 
Labbe,  t.  ii.  Condi,  pp.  614,  615;  cf.  Baluz.  Nova  Collect.  Condi,  p.  490:— 
"  A  synod  of  priests  makes  manifest  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
For  that  which  is  written  is  true, — for  the  truth  cannot  deceive,  whose  word 
is  thus  set  down  in  the  Gospel— w here  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in 
my  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them.  This  being  so,  if  the  Holy 
Ghost  be  not  absent  from  so  small  a  number,  how  much  more  do  we  believe 
that  He  is  now  present  where  so  great  a  multitude  of  holy  men  is  assembled 
together.  Yea,  for  holy  is  a  council  from  its  own  venerable  character; 
wherein  is  to  be  seen  that  reverential  quality  of  that  numerous  assemblage 
of  Apostles  whereof  we  read.  Never  was  He  that  was  preached  by  them 
absent  from  them:  there  was  ever  present  unto  them  that  Lord  and  teacher: 
never  were  they  who  taught  abandoned  by  their  own  Teacher.  He  who 
sent  (them),  taught:  He  who  declared  what  they  should  teach,  Himself 
taught  :  He  taught,  who  gave  assurance  that  He  is  heard  in  His  Apostles. 
This  charge  of  a  commissioned  preaching  has  come  down  unto  all  the 
priests  of  the  Lord  in  common;  by  an  hereditary  law  are  we  constrained 
unto  this  solicitude,  all  we  who,  throughout  divers  lands,  preach  the  name 
of  the  Lord  in  their  stead  (eorum  vice) — in  that  to  them  it  is  said,  Go,  teach 
all  nations.  Your  friendliness  notices  that  we  have  received  a  general  com 
mand,  lie  who  thus  gave  a  commission  to  them  all  in  common,  willed  that 
we  all  should  do  the  same.  It  is  necessary  that  we  follow  the  office  of  our 
authors  (or,  ordainers):  let  us  all  undergo  the  labors  of  those  to  whom  we 
have  all  succeeded  in  honor  (quibus  omnes  successimus  in  honore).  Let  us 
bestow  a  careful  attention  to  the  things  preached  by  them,  after  which 
things,  as  the  Apostle  admonishes,  we  are  enjoined  to  admit  no  other 
preaching.  The  guardianship  of  the  things  entrusted  is  not  inferior  to  the 
office  of  him  who  entrusts.  Let  them  have  cast  the  seeds  of  faith ;  be  it  our 
solicitude  to  guard  it,  that  the  advent  of  the  Father  of  our  household,  to 
whom  alone  indeed  the  fruitfulness  is  ascribed,  may  find  fruit  uncorrupted 
and  manifold.  For,  as  the  vessel  of  election  says,  to  plant  and  to  water 
suffices  not,  unless  God  give  the  increase.  It  is  therefore  to  be  effected  by 
our  common  labor,  that  we  preserve  the  things  committed  (to  us),  and 
which,  through  the  apostolical  succession,  have  been  hitherto  retained  (et 
per  apostolicam  successionem  hue  usque  detenta).  .  .  .  Let  us  also  again 
have  regard  to  those  words  of  our  Teacher,  which  he  peculiarly  uses  before 
bishops,  proclaiming  thus — Take  heed  to  yourselves,  and  to  the  whole  fiock, 
wherein  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  placed  you  bishops,  to  rule  the  Church  of  God, 
which  He  hath  purchased  with  His  own  blood.  They  who  heard  these  words 
had  been  summoned  hither  where  your  holiness  is  now  assembled.  ...  I 
exhort  you,  dearest  brethren,  let  that  love  alone  be  regarded,  in  which, 
agreeably  to  the  voice  of  the  Apostle  John,  whose  relics  you  who  are  pre 
sent  venerate  (cujus  reliquias  praesentes  veneramini),  we  ought  to  abide." — 
Ad.  Synod.  Ephes. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  89 

until  jour  time,  most  rightly  held ;  and  unless  by  a  plain  con 
fession,  and  one  under  your  own  hand,  you  condemn  this 
perfidious  novelty  which  attempts  to  divide  what  the  holy 
Scripture  unites,  and  this  within  ten  days  counting  from  the 
day  that  this  comes  to  your  knowledge,  you  shall  be  cast 
forth  from  all  communion  with  the  Catholic  Church." — Ep. 
xiii.  ad  Nestor,  n.  xi.  Gotland,  t.  ix.p.  315. 

ST.  CYEIL  OF  ALEXANDRIA,  G.  C.1 — u  Whoso  walJceth  injus 
tice  shall  dwell  in  the  lofty  cavern  of  a  firm  rock. — (Is. 
xxxiii.)  That  rock  is  Christ  .  .  .  and  the  cavern  that  is  in 
Christ  may  be  understood  to  be  the  Church,  that  dwelling- 
place  of  the  saints,  that  roof  over  the  pious,  under  which  the 
just  have  their  abode,  and  as  many  indeed  as  escape  from  the 
punishment  of  fire."— T.  i.  I.  i.  De  Adorat.  in  Sp.  et  Ver. 
\p.  31. 

Explaining  Numbers  ix.  15  et  seqq.  "As  soon  as  that 
truest  tabernacle,  the  Church  to  wit,  was  reared  up  and  ap 
peared  upon  the  earth,  it  was  filled  with  the  glory  of  Christ,— 
for  that  former  tabernacle's  being  covered  until  a  cloud  signi 
fies,  in  my  opinion,  but  this.  Christ,  therefore,  filled  the 
Church  with  His  own  glory.  .  .  .  Now,  when  that  cloud  was 
taken  up,  the  tabernacle  was  at  the  same  time  raised,  and 
when  the  cloud  stood  still,  the  tabernacle  also  was  pitched, 
and  the  Israelites  acted  uniformly  with  that  cloud :  for  the 
Church  follows  Christ  everywhere,3  and  the  holy  multitude 
of  believers  is  never  separated  from  Him  that  calls  them 
unto  salvation." — Ib.  lib.  v.p.  164. 

Explaining  Is.  xiv.  20.  "  It  is,  therefore,  a  most  grievous 
thing  to  raise  one's  self  up  against  the  land  of  the  Lord,  that 
is,  the  Church."3— T7.  ii.  Comm.  in  Is.  I.  ii.  t.  \\.  p.  236. 

1  He  succeeded  Theophilus  in  the  patriarchal  see  of  Alexandria,  in  412, 
and  was  the  great  champion  of  orthodoxy  against  Nestorius,  against  whom 
was  called,  in  431,  the  general  council  of  Ephesus,  in  which  St.  Cyril  pre 
sided.     He  died  in  444.      The  edition  used  is  that  by  J.  AuberL  Lut.  Paris. 
1638. 

2  Ert8Tai  yap  rj  km<\.rj6ia  itavraxrj  r<2  Xpidra). 

Ildvdeivov  ovv  dpd  TO  narETtaipeGQai  rf/$  TOV  nvpiov  yrjs,  TOVTJ 


AUTHORITY 


On  Isaias  xlix.  14,  he  says  :  "  This  is  a  promise  as  it  were 
to  the  intellectual  Sion,  unto  which  the  most  wise  Paul 
says,  that  they  who  have  believed  have  come  ;  that  thou  may- 
est  hereby  understand  the  Church,  which  has  been  gathered 
together  from  out  the  Gentiles  and  Jews,  which  (Church)  is 
a  type  of  that  which  is  above,  of  which  also  Paul  reminds  us, 
saying,  But  that  Jerusalem  which  is  above,  is  free,  which  is 
the  mother  of  us  all—  (Gal.  iv.)  For  it  is  the  city  of  the  liv 
ing  God,  and  the  nurse  of  the  first-born,  and  the  mother  of 
the  saints  whose  names  are  registered  in  heaven,  and  a  Church 
which  Christ  never  will  forget.1  For  He  loves  the  Church 
which  He  has  formed  for  Himself  ;  having  formed  the  two 
peoples  into  one  new  man,  and  reconciled  them  both  in  one 
body  with  the  Father  (Ephes.  ii.)  How,  then,  can  He  forget 
His  own  body,  that  is,  the  Church,  of  which  He  is  the  head  2" 
—  Jo.  Comm.  in  Esai.  I.  iv.  or.  iv.  x.  p.  674:. 

"  For  this  cause  (on  account  of  Christ)  the  children  of  the 
Church  are  in  great  peace,  our  mother  being  built  up  in 
righteousness.  For  none  of  those  that  are  wont  to  speak  vain 
things  shall  injure  those  who  are  perfectly  taught  of  God  ;  but 
they  are  at  peace  with  God,  being  united  to  Him  by  love, 
and  reverencing  the  ways  of  justice.  But  in  this  way  does 
He  build  the  Church,  and  effect  for  her  that  she  be  immovable, 
Christ  protecting  her  as  with  a  shield,  and  granting  unto  her  to 
be  incapable  of  being  moved;8  for  the  gates  of  hell,  He  says,  shall 
not  prevail  against  her.  For,  concerning  her  also  is  it  writ 
ten  in  the  book  of  Psalms,  And  He  built  His  sanctuary  as 
of  unicorns  on  the  earth  :  He  hath  founded  it  for  ever.—(Ps. 
Ixxxvii.)  We  say  that  the  sanctuary  is  the  Church  which  raises 
its  horn  to  repel  its  enemies,  even  as  does  the  unicorn  against 
other  animals.  For  it  has  been  founded  unto  eternity  by 
Christ."  8—  Ib.  I.  v.  t.  ii.  pp.  768,  769. 


OVH  cv    moiTo  nark  XpttiroS. 
2  OinoSonei  ds  TOVTO  TT)V 


Ttpaynareverai,   Xpi6rov  6vva6itKaovroS,  nai  TO 
avry. 

yap  et$  TOY  at&va  itapd 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  91 

Explaining  Is.  Ixii.  2.  "  For  it  is  no  longer  called  a  syna 
gogue,  but  the  Church  of  the  living  God,  His  city  also,  and 
His  house.  For  of  the  Church  does  David  also  make  men 
tion,  speaking  thus,  Glorious  things  are  said  of  thee,  0  city 
of  God  /  and  Isaias  teaches  that  she  will  be  exceedingly  beau 
tiful,  and  made  glorious  with  surpassing  beauty,  saying,  Thou 
shalt  be  a  Grown  of  beauty  in  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  and  a 
royal  diadem  in  the  hand  of  thy  God.  And  thou  shalt  be  no 
more  called  Forsaken,  and  thy  land  shall  no  more  be  called 
Desolate,  but  thou  shalt  be  called  my  Pleasure  (Ib.  3,  4)  ... 
After  that  the  two  people  had  been  formed  into  one,  and  the 
Church  composed  of  both  called  one,  God  vouchsafes  unto 
her  not  to  be  in  any  way  soever  entangled  in  former  evils,  nor 
to  be  called  the  Forsaken,  or  the  Desolate,  but  to  be  called 
His  Pleasure,  and  to  be  called  no  longer  the  Desolate,  but  the 
Peopled.  And  this  we  see,  from  facts,  has  been  the  event." — 
Ib.  L.  v.  t.  v.pp.  870,  871. 

On  Zacharias  ii.  1-5.  "  This  vision  may  with  justice  be 
explained  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  For  Satan  had  tyrannized 
over  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  and  we  had  become 
slaves,  constrained  under  his  yoke.  But  the  grace  of  the 
Saviour  broke  his  horn,  and  lowered  his  pride,  for  He  tri 
umphed  over  principalities  and  powers,  and  the  rulers  of  the 
world,  and  adverse  powers ;  He  rescued  and  freed  us  from  his 
fetters.  He  raised  up  our  Church,  truly  the  holy  and  famous 
city,  wide,  and  of  vast  length,  in  which  we  have  dwelt  with  fruit, 
both  men  and  animals ;  that  is,  both  they  who  have  already 
been  instructed,  and  they  who  have  not  as  yet  arrived  at  this 
point,  but  will  nevertheless  do  so,  being  still  under  initiation. 
We  have  inhabited  a  city  which  Christ  Himself  walls  round, 
with  power  ineffable  consuming  all  adversaries  with  fire,  and 
filling  it  with  His  glory,  and  standing  as  it  were  in  the  midst 
of  those  who  dwell  therein,  unto  whom  He  gave  the  promise, 
saying,  Lo,  I  am  with  you  all  the  days  until  the  end  of  the 
world.  And  the  prophet  Isaias,  in  a  certain  place,  makes 
mention  of  the  holy  city  in  these  words :  Thine  eyes  shall  see 


92  AUTHORITY 

Jerusalem,  a  rich  city,  tabernacles  which  shall  never  be  moved, 
neither  shall  the  stakes  thereof  be  stirred,  nor  the  cords  thereof 
be  broken  (Is.  xxxiii.)" — T.  iii.  Comm.  in  Zach.  pp.  666,  667. 

On  Zacharias  iv.  1-3.  "  Further,  we  say  that  the  golden 
candlestick  is  the  Church,  as  being  honored  in  the  world, 
exceedingly  resplendent  in  virtues,  as  being  raised  far  on  high 
by  the  doctrines  of  the  true  knowledge  of  God ;  upon  which 
(Church)  there  is  a  lamp,  Christ,  that  is,  of  whom  God  the 
Father  says,  For  Sion's  sake  I  will  not  hold  my  peace,  and  for 
the  sake  of  Jerusalem  I  ivill  not  rest  until  my  justice  come 
forth  as  a  light,  and  my  salvation  burn  as  a  lamp  (Is.  xlii.) 
This  lamp,  which  enlightens  all  under  heaven,  God  the 
Father  has  placed  upon  a  candlestick,  that  all  who  enter  in 
may  see  the  light,  and  that  it  may  shine  to  all  who  are  in  the 
house  (Matt,  v.)  But  there  are  seven  lamps  which  have  not 
a  light  of  their  own,  but  one  that  is  communicated,  and  from 
an  external  source,  and  is  fed  by  supplies  of  oil ;  and  these 
signify  the  holy  Apostles,  as  also  the  Evangelists,  and  those 
who  have,  in  their  respective  days,  been  the  teachers  of  the 
churches,  who  have  received, — as  it  were  lamps  into  their 
minds  and  hearts, — illumination  from  Christ ;  and  they  have 
the  illumination  fed  by  supplies  from  the  Holy  Ghost,  (they) 
sending  abundant  light  to  those  who  are  in  the  house,  and  at 
the  same  time  illuminating  with  that  lamp  the  believers.  .  .  . 
Observe  .how  there  are  upon  the  candlestick  together  with  the 
lamp,  lights  also.  For  Christ  is  with  us  in  the  Church,  and 
the  multitude  of  believers  having  found  mercy  is  illuminated 
by  a  light  from  Him,  and  has  also  light  by  means  of  the 
lamps,  which  have  a,  -derived  light,  and  one  that  is  communi 
cated  by  Him." — Ib.  in  Zach.  pp.  683,  684. 

On  Zach.  xi.  13.  Cast  them  into  the  furnace,  and  I  will  see 
if  they  be  approved.  "  The  prophet  says  that  there  is  a  re 
finer's  furnace  in  the  house  of  the  Lord.  For  the  Church  of 
Christ  tries  each  one's  manners,  and  the  sincerity  of  his  love 
towards  Christ;  and  having  the  discernment  of  spirits,  she 
knows  accurately  who,  when  naming  the  Lord  Jesus,  speaks 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  93 

in  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  who  in  Beelzebub  says  anathema  unto 
Him  ;  and  who  are  the  true  worshippers,  and  who,  again,  come 
unto  us,  wolves  as  it  were  in  sheep's  clothing."  —  Ibid.  p.  767. 
See  also  Hid.  pp.  778,  779. 

"  That  the  enemies  of  truth  were  to  be  in  every  place  and 
way,  utterly  impotent,  the  Saviour  Himself  also  clearly  de 
clares,  saying,  Thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  I  will 
build  my  Church,  and  the  gates  of  hell,  &c.  Lo,  here  He 
calls  those  who  assail  her,  gates,  as  being  destructive  and  pes 
tilential,  and  generally  leading  down  to  the  depths  of  hell 
those  who  adhere  to  them."  —  Ib.  p.  782. 

"  Was  then  the  Saviour,  after  returning  to  the  Father,  sepa 
rated  from  the  disciples,  and  yet  with  them  by  the  energy, 
and  power,  and  charity  of  the  Spirit  ?  How,  and  in  what 
manner?  For  He  deceives  not  when  He  says,  Lo,  I  am  with 
you  all  days,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world  ;  except  as  regards 
the  flesh  and  the  presence  of  the  body,  this  is  past  all  doubt." 
—  T.  iv.  Comm.  in  Joan.  1.  x.  p.  916. 

"  The  divine  Paul  exhorts  to  be  most  wary  of  mind,  saying, 
Try  yourselves,  if  you  be  in  the  faith  (2  Cor.  xiii.  5).  For 
the  human  mind,  though,  when  under  the  influence  of  self- 
love,  it  may  be  borne  away  from  out  the  right  road,  and  be 
under  an  influence  which  withdraws  it  from  the  dogmas  of 
truth,  is  always  somehow  grieved  and  afraid  to  charge  its  own 
thoughts  with  absurdity.  And  yet  it  will  set  itself  right,  and 
that  very  easily,  if,  after  having  examined  the  works  of  the 
holy  Fathers,  who  enjoy  amongst  all  men  a  well-known  reputa 
tion  both  for  the  orthodoxy  and  accuracy  of  their  doctrines,  it 
shall  then  try  with  befitting  skill  its  own  faith.  For  it  is  the 
aim  of  all  who  are  sound  at  heart  to  follow  the  sentiments 
of  those  men,2  because  they  also  filled  their  minds  with  both 
the  apostolic  and  evangelic  tradition,  and  having  regulated 
very  accurately  their  discourse  concerning  the  faith,  both 


ovra<s,  ual  <pQopov$  nal  iteravpov  adov 
rovS  Ttpodxsi/uerovS  avroiS. 
2  ^HOTCO'S  yap  (X7ta<5i  rotS  dprioiS  rrjv  <ppeva,  ralS  kxeivGOv  £7t£(5Qai 


4  AUTHORITY 

rightly  and  irreprehensibly  out  of  the  sacred  writings,  were 
lights  in  the  world,  retaining  the  word  of  life  according  as  it 
is  written."—  T.  v.  par.  ii.  Apolog.  Adv.  Orient.  Anath.  8, 
pp.  177,  178. 

"  Thus  does  it  seem  good  to  this  man  (Nestorius),  and  to 
him  alone,  to  think  and  to  speak  differently  from  all  other 
men  ;  though  the  Catholic  Church  which  Christ  has  presented 
to  Himself,  has  not  the  wrinkles  which  (disfigure)  the  man  that 
writes  these  things,  yea  rather  is  she  without  blemish,  and 
holds  the  faith  concerning  Hun  in  every  way  blameless,  and 
has  very  correctly  made  the  tradition  of  faith  (the  Nicene 
creed.)"— T7.  vii.  L.  ii.  Adv.  Nestor,  p.  3D.1 

THEODORET,  G.  C.'—  Great  is  the  Lord,  and  exceedingly  to 
le  praised  in  the  city  of  our  God,  in  His  holy  mountain 

1  The  following  extracts  also  deserve  notice.  Explaining  Exodus  xxv.  8, 
"  For  Christ  is  visible  in  the  Church,  and  shines  upon  those  within  it;  ac 
cording  also  to  that  of  the  Psalmist,  The  Lord  He  is  God,  and  He  hath 
shone  upon  us."—T.  i.  1.  ix.  De  Ador.  in  Sp.  et  Ver.  p.  291.  "/  tcill  set 
thee  an  everlasting  gladness,  a  joy  to  generations  and  generations. — Is.  lix. 
13.  For  there  is  nothing  sorrowful  in  the  Church  of  Christ.  For  where 
there  is  perfectly  the  hope  of  incorniption,  and  of  life  without  end,  and  of 
glory  everlasting,  and  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  what  room  can  sadness 
find?"— T7.  ii.  Comm.  in  Es.  1.  v.  p.  851.  "And  they  turn  aside  the  way  of 
the  humble  (Amos  ii.  7).  They  also  turn  aside  the  icay  of  the  humble,  who 
pervert  the  right  path  of  the  ecclesiastical  dogmas  to  their  own  opinions 
(oi  rojy  £KK\ri<5ia6TiH&v  doyndrcov  napaTpenovrES  TYJV  opQoryra 
(orthodoxy),  litiye  TO  6q>i6i  donovr).  And  persuade  the  minds  of  the 
simple  to  enter  upon  an  oblique  and  out  of  the  way  path."—  T.  iii.  Comm.  in 
Amos,  p.  267.  "The  prophet  Isaias  has  also  made  mention  of  this  Church  to 
us,  saying,  In  the  last  days  the  moimtain  of  the  Lord  shall  be  manifest,  and 
the,  house  of  God  on  the  tops  of  the  mountains,  and  it  shall  be  exalted  above 
the  hills,  and  all  nations  shall  flow  unto  it  (ii.  2).  For  the  Church  of  Christ 
is  conspicuous,  and  as  it  were  placed  upon  a  mountain,  is  manifest  to  all 
men ;  it  has  also  been  called  the  true  (Zach.  viii.  3),  no  longer  worshipping  in 
types  and  shadows,  but  has  received  rather  the  truth,  which  is  Christ,  and 
celebrating  a  worship  which  is  in  spirit  and  in  truth:'— T.  iii.  Comm.  in 
Zach.  viii.  3.  Commenting  on  Zach.  viii.  7,  8:  "The  Church,  which  is 
especially  commended  for  the  orthodoxy  of  its  dogmas,  has  this  sentiment 
concerning  the  only-begotten  Son,  whilst  the  God-opposing  heretics  have  a 
contrary  opinion."—  T.  iv.  Comm.  in  Man.  I.  ix.  pp.  784,  785. 

2  Born  at  Antioch  about  the  year  393,  he  was  raised  to  the  see  of  Cyrus 
in  Palestine  about  the  year  423,  and  died  about  458.  His  friendship  for 
Nestorius  embroiled  him,  for  a  time,  with  his  great  contemporary,  St.  Cyril 
of  Alexandria.  The  edition  used  is  that  by  Schuhe,  Hal*,  1769." 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  95 

(Ps.  xlvii.)  "  We  have  already  said  that  the  divine  Scripture 
frequently  designates  as  a  city,  not  the  buildings,  but  its 
internal  regulation  ;  l  he  accordingly  says  that  the  Lord  has 
been  shown  to  be  great,  by  what  He  has  done  for  His  city, 
which  the  sublimity  of  its  dogmas  has  made  conspicuous,  even 
as  a  city  upon  a  great  and  lofty  hill  ;  for  a  city,  the  Lord  says, 
set  upon  a  hill,  cannot  be  hid.  He  has  built,  he  says,  this 
city,  well,  beautifully  and  solidly,  to  the  joy  of  the  whole  earth. 
For,  He  built  it,  says  the  divine  Apostle,  upon  the  founda 
tion  of  the  Apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ  Himself  he- 
ing  the  chief  corner-stone  (Eph.  ii.)  And  the  Lord  Himself 
said  to  blessed  Peter,  And  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my 
Church,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it  (St. 
Matt,  xvi.)  Wherefore  that  phrase  rooting  it  well  is  instead 
of  founding  it  solidly,  so  as  to  endure  without  tottering,  and 
unshaken.8 

"  The  Mountain  of  Sion  (on)  the  sides  of  tlie  north,  the  city 
oftlie  great  King.  .  .  .  The  mountains  which  repel  the  north- 
winds,  and  keep  the  city  uninjured,  one  may  reasonably  say 
are  the  prophets  and  Apostles,  and  their  various  doctrines,  and, 
furthermore,  the  angels  who  are  set  over  believers.  For  the 
angel  of  the  Lord  shall  encamp  round  about  them  that  fear 
Him  (Ps.  xxxiii.)  In  her  houses  is  God  known,  when  He 
shall  take  her  in  charge.  One,  indeed,  is  the  Church  through 
out  all  earth  and  sea  ;  for  which  cause,  when  we  pray,  we 
say  —  '  For  the  holy  and  alone  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church, 
which  is  from  one  end  of  the  earth  to  the  other.'  That  same 
city,  again,  is  divided  into  cities  and  towns  and  villages,  which 
the  prophetic  word  denominates  houses.  As  every  city  has  in 
it  many  separate  houses,  and  is  nevertheless  called  one  city,  so 
are  there  tens  of  thousands  and  countless  churches,  both  on 
the  islands  and  continents,  but  they  are  all  perfected  together 
into  one  Church,  united  by  the  concord  of  the  true  doctrines. 
In  these  churches,  he  says  that  the  God  of  all  is  seen  furnish- 


dia/usivai. 


96  AUTHORITY 

ing  His  own  aid.  He  next  foretells  the  assaults  that  were  to 
be,  and  the  conversion  of  her  adversaries.  For  behold  the 
kings  of  the  earth  assembled  tfomselves,  they  gathered  together. 
So  they  saw  and  wondered  (v.  6).  For  they  hastened  together 
as  though  about  to  make  war,  but  when  they  beheld  the  uncon- 
querableness  of  her  whom  they  warred  against,1  they  were 
struck  with  consternation.  For  they  were  troubled,  he  says, 
they  were  moved  (v.  6,  7).  Having  contemplated,  he  says, 
the  solid  foundations  of  the  Church,  and  learnt  the  unerring 
truth  of  the  promise,  they  were  seized  with  fear  and  trembling, 
like  men  who  are  crossing  the  waves  (backs)  of  the  sea,  and 
are  tossed  with  storms,  and  expecting  utter  destruction. 
Wherefore,  having  ceased  from  fighting  and  assaulting,  they 
proclaim  the  power  of  their  antagonist,  and  cry  out,  As  we 
have  heard,  so  have  we  seen,  in  the  city  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts, 
in  the  city  of  our  God.  For  not  willing  to  admit  the  predic 
tions  concerning  her,  we  have,  by  facts,  become  witnesses  to 
their  truth.  God  hath  founded  her  unto  eternity.  For  it  is 
His  voice, —  Upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  Church,  and 
the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it  (St.  Matt,  xvi.) 
The  prophetic  word  having  thus  shown  the  change  of  her 
enemies,  next  foretells  what  words  they  will  make  use  of 
who  have  found  safety  (or  salvation).  We  have  received 
Thy  mercy,  0  God,  in  the  midst  of  Thy  temple.  We  look  for, 
they  say,  this  Thine  aid,  O  Lord,  knowing  the  unerring  truth 
of  Thy  promises.  For  Thou  didst  say,  /  am  with  you  all 
days,  even  to  the  consummation  of  the  world?  Distribute 
her  houses  (v.  14),  so  as  that  one  may  look  after  this,  and  an 
other  after  that  church,  and  that  the  husbandman  be  set  over, 
and  take  befitting  care  of  each.  And  this  does  he  order  to  be 
done,  not  for  once,  or  twice,  but  in  every  generation.  And 
for  this  cause  he  added,  That  ye  may  relate  it  unto  another 

1  SEa6a.nf.voi  d£  rrjS  TtoXe/iiovvevrfS  TO  a^a^ov. 

•  In  his  Comm.  in  Ep.  ad  Hebr,  c.  i.  t.  iii.  p.  546,  he  says,  "  The  inter^ 
val  between  the  constitution  of  the  world  and  its  end  is  also  called  ataov 
(world).  For  so  even  did  the  Lord  say,  Lo  !  I  am  with  you  all  days,  even 
to  the  consummation  of  the  world." 


OF  THE   CHURCH.  97 

generation.  For  this  is  our  God  for  ever  and  ever,  He 
shepherds  (or  feeds,  rules)  us  for  evermore.  For  each  genera 
tion  must  needs  transmit  to  the  one  after  it  what  it  received 
from  the  preceding,  that  so  the  saving  Gospel  may  be  trans 
mitted  in  all  generations,  and  all  men  may  know  that  He  is 
our  Lord  and  God,  and  good  shepherd,  and  everlasting.  For  as 
he  said,  Distribute  her  houses,  and  committed  the  feeding  to 
them,  he  necessarily  taught  that  one  is  the  good  Shepherd  who 
laid  down  His  life  for  the  sheep,  feeding  them  for  ever  and 
ever,  and  feeding  not  the  sheep  only,  but  those  also  who  are 
called  the  shepherds  of  the  sheep." — T.  i.  in  Ps.  xlvii.  pp. 
907-913.  See  also  the  extract  given  from  t.  ii.  in  Cant.  Can- 
tic,  under  "  Private  Judgment."  1 

THEODOTUS  OF  ANCYKA,  G.  C.3 — "  This  also  did  the  Fathers, 
who  received  from  the  Apostles  the  mystery  of  the  incarna- 

1  The  following  is  Theodoret's  reply  to  the  common  charge,  brought  by 
the  pagans,  that  Christianity  was  but  another  name  for  credulity,  on  ac 
count  of  the  faith  required  of  its  followers.  Having  retorted  the  objection, 
by  citing  the  Pythagoreans  with  their  avroS  eqxx,  and  quoted  a  similar 
principle  from  Plato,  Aristotle,  and  others,  he  adds:  "Faith  is  a  thing 
common  to  all  men,  both  to  those  who  desire  to  learn  any  trade,  to  seamen, 
to  agriculturists,  and  to  those  engaged  with  physicians.  But  knowledge  be 
longs  not  to  all  men,  but  only  to  those  who  have  learnt  those  professions. 
.  .  .  Faith,  therefore,  is  a  kind  of  primary  basis  and  foundation  to  know 
ledge.  .  .  .  Now  it  is  a  foolish  thing,  and  hardly  to  be  borne,  that  knowledge 
should  be,  in  every  other  art,  peculiar  to  the  teachers,  and  faith  to  the 
taught,  and  that,  in  the  communication  of  divine  things  alone,  this  order 
should  be  reversed,  and  knowledge  required  before  faith.  For  in  things  in 
visible  we  have  not  less  need  of  the  eyes  of  faith.  Hence  also  does  the 
Apostle  clearly  cry  out,  '  He  that  cometh  to  God  must  believe  that  He  is, 
and  that  He  is  a  rewarder  to  them  that  seek  Him  '  (Heb.  xi.  6).  For  this 
cause  also  do  we,  before  all  other  things,  set  the  doctrine  of  faith  before  all 
those  who  come  unto  us,  and  who  are  desirous  to  learn  the  divine  (truths); 
next,  we  lay  open  to  them  after  they  have  been  perfected  (re^ov/ueroiS) 
and  initiated,  the  things  of  which  the  enigmas  (aiviyfiara)  have  been 
shown  them ;  and  the  same  takes  place  equally  amongst  you :  all  do  not  un 
derstand  the  language  of  the  hierophant ;  the  vast  mass  sees  indeed  what  is 
done,  while  they  who  are  called  priests  celebrate  the  rites  of  the  orgies, 
whereas  the  hierophant  alone  knows  the  meaning  of  the  things  done  and 
communicates  to  those  whom  he  thinks  fit." — T.  iv.  Disput.  i.  curat.  OTCBC. 
Affect,  pp.  720,  721. 

5  He  was  bishop  of  Ancyra,  and  flourished  about  the  year  429.  The 
edition  given  by  Oallandius,  t.  ix.  is  followed. 


98  AUTHORITY 

tion  (economy),  teach.  Thus  also  did  the  three  hundred  and 
eighteen  fathers,  assembled  at  Nicsea,  decree,  concerning  the 
Only-Begotten.  The  man  that  imagines  Christ  to  have  two 
persons,  is  at  variance  with  their  sentiments,  at  the  very  time 
that  he  is  professing  to  follow  them.  [He  then  quotes  the 
Nicene  creed,  and  adds] — These  are  the  Fathers'  words,  which 
lay  down  for  us  the  faith  regarding  the  Only-Begotten,  guid 
ing  right,  as  a  rule,  every  human  thought.  For,  as  a  rule 
corrects  the  senses  that  are  being  deceived  as  to  the  straight- 
ness  of  a  line,  proving  it  to  be  crooked,  so  does  this  statement 
correct  the  designs  of  men  who  seek  to  pervert  our  faith 
by  their  fancies.  Let  us  follow  these  (Fathers),  believing 
their  words,  not  weaving  doubtful  questions.  For  these  men 
say,  i  we  believe,'  not  '  we  adduce  demonstrations  by  reason 
ings.'  "Wherefore,  let  us  also  believe  that  what  they  have  said 
is  so,  keeping  perfectly  aloof  from  all  curious  inquiry.  For 
we  correct  not  (or  inquire  not  into)  the  things  that  have 
been  already  believed  by  the  Fathers,1  but  confess  that  these 
things  were  so  done  of  God,  faith  confirming  our  understand 
ing.  So  that  every  one  who  thinks  differently  from  this  ex 
position  (of  faith),  is  an  alien  from  Christianity,  even  though 
he  may  seem  to  say  something  concerning  our  faith  that  has 
an  air  of  probability.  For  not  even  does  any  one  amongst 
those  that  are  without,  demand  a  demonstration  of  the  first 
principles  of  the  sciences,  but  receives  those  principles  on  cre 
dit  from  the  teachers,  without  raising  a  dispute  about  them. 
Let,  then,  this  exposition  by  the  Fathers  be  a  first  principle  of 
the  faith  concerning  the  Only-Begotten  Son.  [Having  shown 
how  Nestorius,  while  affecting  to  follow  the  Nicene  creed,  in 
reality  subverted  it,  he  adds] — How  pretend  you  to  agree 
with  the  Fathers,  whom,  nevertheless,  you  will  not  follow? 
But,  spreading  out  the  authority  of  the  Fathers  *  as  a  bait  to 
your  own  error,  you  thereby  draw  the  simple  into  your  snare." 
—Expos.  Symbol,  n.  8,  9,  11,  pp.  429-431,  t.  ix.  Gallandii. 

1  Ov  yap  evQvvo/iiev  r«  vTto  TGOV  Ttarepoov  Ttf.Tti6TEVfj.ev a. 

2  To  ro3V  TtarepooY 


OF  THE   CHURCH.  99 

CAPREOLUS  OF  CARTHAGE,  L.  C.1— " '  I,  therefore,  beseech 
your  holiness  (though  I  have  the  firmest  confidence)  that,  by 
the  help  of  God,  the  Catholic  faith  will  be  in  all  respects  firmly- 
established  by  means  of  so  great  a  synod  (Ephesus)  of  vene 
rable  priests,  that,  the  Holy  Spirit  working  within  yon,  which 
Spirit,  I  am  confident,  will  be  present  in  your  hearts  in  all 
that  you  do,  you  shake  from  you  with  the  force  of  former 
authority  these  novel  doctrines,  unheard,  till  now,  by  eccle 
siastical  ears,  and  thus  withstand  new  errors  of  whatsoever 
kind  they  may  be ;  lest  the  same  (errors)  which  the  Church 
vanquished  long  ago,  and  which  have  sprung  up  again  in 
these  days,  and  which  the  authority  of  the  apostolic  chair, 
and  the  concordant  judgment  of  the  priesthood  repressed,2 
may,  under  the  pretext  of  a  second  examination,  seem  to 
recover  that  voice  which  was  long  since  quelled.  For, 
should  anything  happen  to  be  started  recently,  there  needs 
examination,  that  it  may  either  be  approved  as  rightly 
spoken,  or  repudiated  as  deserving  of  condemnation  ;  but  mat 
ters  concerning  which  judgment  has  already  been  passed,  if 
a  man  suffer  such  to  be  called  again  into  question,  he  will 
simply  seem  himself  to  doubt  about  the  faith  which  he  has 
hitherto  held.  Again,  as  an  example  to  posterity : — that  what 
is  now  defined  relative  to  Catholic  faith  may  be  for  ever  firmly 
received,  those  matters  which  have  already  been  defined  by  the 
Fathers,  must  be  preserved  inviolate.  Since  whoso  would 
fain  that  what  he  has  defined  concerning  the  right  ordering  of 
faith  should  continue  for  ever,  must  needs  confirm  his  senti 
ments,  not  by  his  private  authority,3  but  also  by  the  judgment 
of  the  more  ancient  (Fathers)  ;  so  that,  in  this  manner,  proving 
that  what  he  asserts  is,  both  by  the  decisions  of  the  ancients 
and  of  the  moderns,  the  alone  truth  of  the  Catholic  Church, — 

1  He  succeeded  Aurelius  in  the  see  of  Carthage,  and  in  431  sent  his  de 
puties  to  the  council  of  Ephesus,  with  a  letter,  part  of  which  is  given  in  the 
text.     It  is  in  Oallandius,  t.  ix. 

2  TtfS  a7todroA.iH^<;  xaOsSpat  rj  avQevria,  nal  sit  Iv  6vfj.cpwvov6a  77 

77  ispctriHJj 
8  Ov  ry  t8ia 


:>$0  AUTHORITY 

a  truth  descending  from  the  past  ages  even  to  the  present,  or 
our  days,  in  simple  purity  and  invincible  authority, — and  that 
such  truth  he  both  utters,  and  teaches,  and  holds.'  .  .  .  Cyril 
of  Alexandria  said, '  Let  the  epistle  that  has  been  read  from  .  .  . 
Capreolus  of  Carthage,  be  inserted  amongst  the  memorials  of 
faith,  containing,  as  it  does,  a  clear  opinion ;  for  he  wishes  the 
ancient  doctrines  to  be  confirmed,  but  novel  and  absurd  inven 
tions  to  be  condemned  and  cast  aside.'  All  the  bishops  ex 
claimed,  '  Such  are  the  declarations  of  us  all.  This  we  all  pro 
claim  :  this  is  the  prayer  of  all.' '  — Ep.  ad  Condi.  Eph.jjp. 
490,  491,  t.  ix.  Gallandii. 

"  Although,  therefore,  the  authority  itself  of  the  universal 
Church  is  quite  enough  for  minds  that  are  Christian  and  de 
vout,  nor  is  less  than  this  your  opinion,  as  far  as  I  have  learnt 
it  from  the  letter  that  you  have  sent  me,  yet,  that  I  may  not 
appear  to  refuse  the  answer  required  by  your  question  and 
request,  I  profess  that  that  doctrine  is  the  alone  and  the  true 
which  evangelical  antiquity  holds  and  delivers."  ' — Rescript. 
Vitali  et  Const,  p.  493,  col.  1. 

CASSIAN,  L.  C.s— "  This  faith,  that  is,  the  faith  of  all  Catho 
lics,  both  the  bishops  of  Africa  whence  he  wrote,  and  the 
Gallican  bishops  to  whom  he  wrote,  agreed  in  approving. 
Nor  has  there  yet  been  any  man  living  who  has  repudiat 
ed  this  faith,  without  being  guilty  of  the  crime  of  unbelief, 
seeing  that  it  is  a  profession  of  unbelief  to  deny  the  approved 
of  belief.  Wherefore,  the  agreement  alone  of  all  would  now 
suffice  to  refute  heresy,  because  the  authority  of  all  is  the 
manifestation  of  undoubted  truth,  and  a  perfect  reason  has 
been  assigned  when  none  dissent.  Insomuch  that  the  man 

1  Quamvis  igitur  Christianis  et  devotis  mentibus  ipsa  universalis  ecclesiae 
auctoritas  plene  sufficiat  .  .  .  unam  veratnque  doctrinam  hanc  esse  con- 
fitemur,  quam  evangelica  tenet  ac  tradit  antiquitas. 

2  Having  passed  his  youth  among  the  solitaries  of  Egypt,  he  was  ordain 
ed  deacon  by  St.  Chrysostom.     He  thence  passed  to  Marseilles,  where  he 
seems  to  have  been  ordained  priest.      His  opinions  on  grace  being  in  opposi 
tion  somewhat  to  those  of  St.  Augustine  and  the  Church,  caused  him  to  be 
opposed  by  St.  Prosper.     He  died  in  433.     The  edition  used  is  that  given  in 
the  Bibl.  Maxim.  SS.  PP.  t.  vii.  • 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  101 

who  should  presume  to  entertain  a  contrary  sentiment,  such 
an  one's  assertion  is  at  once,  and  at  the  very  outset,  not  so 
much  to  be  refused  to  be  heard,  as  he  is  to  be  condemned 
for  his  perversity ;  because  he  who  impugns  the  judgment 
of  the  whole,  brings  with  him  a  foregone  proof  of  condem 
nation  against  himself ; '  and  whoso  would  rescind  what  all 
have  once  agreed  upon,  has  no  plea  to  be  heard.  For  when 
the  truth  has  once  been  confirmed  by  all,  whatsoever  is  ad 
vanced  in  opposition  to  it,  is  at  once  thereby  to  be  acknow 
ledged  as  false,  in  that  it  diverges  from  that  judgment  of 
truth."— L.  1,  De  Incarn,  Dom,  t.  vii.  Bib.  Max.  SS.  PP. 
p.  71.  A  similar  argument  is  urged  at  much  length,  ibid. 
I.  v.  p.  89,  from  which  the  following  sentence  will  suffice : — 

"  I  would  convince  you  by  the  authority  of  the  sacred  tes 
timonies  ;  I  would  convince  you  by  the  voice  of  the  Law 
itself;  I  would  convince  you,  finally,  by  the  truth  of  the 
creed  which  is  approved  of  throughout  the  whole  world ;  I 
would  say  to  you,  that  even  though  you  were  devoid  of 
understanding  and  sense,  yet  ought  you  to  follow,  at  all 
events,  the  consent  of  mankind,  and  not  set  the  perverseness 
of  a  few  above  the  faith  of  all  the  churches, — a  faith,  in  fact, 
which,  established  by  Christ,  delivered  by  the  Apostles,  is  to 
be  accounted  no  other  than  the  voice  and  authority  of  God ; 
and  which,  in  fact,  would  have  in  it  both  the  voice  and  mean 
ing  of  God."  2 — Ibid.  1.  v.  De  Incarn.  p.  89. 

YINCENTIUS    OF    LERiNS,  L.    C.3 — "  When   often  inquiring 

1  Quia  praejudicium  secum  damnationis  'exhibuit,  qui  judicium  universi- 
tatis  impugnat. 

2  Qua?  ubique  (fides  omnium  ecclesiarum)  a  Christo  fundata,  ab  epistolis 
tradita,  non  aliud  existimanda  esset  quam  vox  atque  authoritas  Dei,  quae 
haberet  in  se  utique  et  vocem  et  sensum  Dei. 

3  "  Vincentius,  by  birth  a  Gaul,  a  presbyter  in  a  monastery  in  the  island 
of  Lerins,  a  man  learned  in  the  holy  Scriptures,  and  well  instructed  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Church,  with  a  view  to  overthrow  the  sects 
of  the  heretics,  composed  in  elegant  and  clear  language  a  very  powerful  dis 
sertation,  which,  concealing  his  own  name,  he  entitled  Peregrinus  against 
Heretics."    So  Gennadius,  De  lllust.  Scrip.     This  work  he  also  called  Com- 
monitorium,  and  it  is  supposed  to  have  appeared  about  the  year  434.     He 
died  about  the  year  445. 


102  AUTHORITY 

with  great  earnestness  and  the  utmost  attention,  of  very 
many  men  excelling  in  holiness  and  learning,  how  I  might, 
by  some  certain,  and  as  it  were  general  and  undeviating  (or 
ordinary)  way,  discern  the  truth  of  Catholic  faith  from  the 
falseness  of  heretical  pravity,  I  have  received  from  almost  all 
something  like  this  answer :  That  whether  I,  or  any  other, 
would  fain  lind  out  the  deceptions,  and  avoid  the  snares  of 
the  heretics  as  they  spring  up,  and  remain  safe  and  sound  in 
the  sound  faith,  that  he  ought,  in  two  ways,  to  fortify,  with 
God's  assistance,  his  faith.  First,  that  is,  by  the  authority 
of  the  divine  Law  ;  secondly,  ly  the  tradition  of  the  CatMlc 
Church.'  Here  some  one  perhaps  may  ask,  <  Seeing  that  the 
Canon  of  the  Scriptures  is  perfect,  and  self-sufficient,  and 
more  than  sufficient,  for  all  things,  what  need  is  there  that 
the  authority  of  the  Church's  understanding  (interpretation) 
be  joined  unto  it  ? ' 3  The  reason  is,  because  all  men  do  not 
take  the  sacred  Scripture,  on  account  of  its  very  profound 
ness,  in  one  and  the  *ame  sense ;  but  this  man  and  that  man, 
in  this  way,  and  that  way,  interprets  the  sayings  thereof; 
that  as  many  opinions  almost  as  there  are  men,  would  seem 
to  be  capable  of  being  drawn  therefrom.  For  Novatian  ex 
pounds  in  one  way,  in  another  Photinus,  in  another  Sabel- 
lius,  in  another  Donatus,  in  another  Arius,  Eunomius, 
Macedonius,  in  another  Apollinaris,  Priscillian,  in  another 
Jovinian,  Pelagius,  Celestius,  in  another,  in  fine,  Nestorius. 
And  for  this  cause  very  necessary  it  is,  on  account  of  the 
many  doublings  of  error  so  varied,  that  the  line  of  interpre 
tation,  both  of  prophets  and  Apostles,  be  directed  according 
to  the  rule  (standard)  of  the  ecclesiastical  and  Catholic  sense.3 
Again,  in  the  Catholic  Church  itself,  very  great  care  is  to 
be  taken  that  we  hold  that  which  hath  been  believed  every- 

1  Ecclesiae  Catholicae  traditione. 

2  Quid  opus  est.  ut  ei  Ecclesiastics  intelligentiae  jungatur  authoritas? 

3  Multum  necesse  est,  propter  tantos  tarn  varii  erroris  anfractus,  ut  Pro- 
pheticae  et  Apostolicae  interpretationis  linea  secundum  Ecclesiastic!  et  Ca- 
tholici  sensus  norraam  dirigatur. 


OP  THE  CHURCH.  103 

where,  always •,  and  ly  all  men.''  For  Catholic  is  truly  and 
properly  that,  as  the  very  force  and  nature  of  the  word  de 
clares,  which  comprises  all  things  in  general,  after  a  universal 
manner;  and  this  is  thus,  in  fine,  attained,— if  we  follow 
universality,  antiquity,  consent*  Now,  we  shall  follow 
universality  thus, — if  we  confess  this  one  faith  to  be  true, 

which  the  whole  Church  throughout  the  world  confesses, 

antiquity,  thus,  if  we  in  no  wise  recede  from  those  senses 
which  it  is  manifest  that  our  holy  elders  and  Fathers  openly 
maintained, — consent,  likewise  (shall  wre  follow)  in  the  same 
manner,  if,  in  this  antiquity  itself,  we  adhere  to  the  defini 
tions  and  sentiments  of  all,  or  at  least  of  nearly  all  the  priests 
and  doctors  together. 

"  What  then  shall  a  Catholic  Christian  do,  if  some  small  part 
of  the  Church  cut   itself   off   from   the   communion   of   the 
universal  faith  ?     What,  indeed,  but  prefer  the  healthf illness 
of  the  whole  body  before  the  pestiferous  and  corrupt  mem 
ber?      What  if  some  novel  contagion   attempt  to   taint  no 
longer  a  small  part  only,  but  the  whole  Church  alike  ?     Then, 
likewise,  shall  he   see   to  it  that   he   cleave  unto   antiquity, 
which  is  now  utterly  incapable  of  being  seduced  by  any  craft 
of  novelty.     What  if,  in  antiquity  itself,  there  be  discovered 
some  error  of  two  or  three  men,  or  of  some  one  city  or  pro 
vince  even  ?     Then  shall  he  by  all  means  give  heed  that  he 
prefer,  before  the  temerity  or  ignorance  of  a  few,  the  decrees, 
if  such  there  be,  universally  (received)  of  old,  of  a  general 
council.     What  if  some  such  case  arise,  wherein  nothing  of 
this  nature  can  be  found  ?     Then  shall  he  bestow  his  labor 
to   consult   and   interrogate   the   collated   sentiments   of  the 
ancients,— of   those   to   wit  who,  though  living  at  different 
times  and  places,  yet  remaining  in  the  communion  and  faith 
of  the  one  Catholic  Church,  were  trustworthy  teachers ;  and 
whatsoever  he  shall  recognize  that  not  one  or  two  only,  but 
all   alike,   with   one   unvarying   consent,  plainly,  frequently, 

1  Id  teneamus,  quod  ubique,  quod  semper,  quod  ab  omnibus  creditum  est. 

2  Si  sequamur  universitatem,  antiquitatem,  consensionem. 


104  AUTHORITY 

unswervingly  held,  wrote,  taught,  that  let  him  understand  is 
to  be  also  believed  by  him  without  any  doubt.1 

"  But  that  our  observations  may  become  plainer,  they  are  to 
be  illustrated  one  by  one  by  examples,  and  to  be  amplified  a 
little  more  at  large.  ...  In  the  time  of  Donatus,  from  whom 
are  the  Donatists,  when  a  great  part  of  Africa  plunged  head 
long  into  his  frenzied   error,   and  when,  unmindful   of   her 
name,  religion,  and  profession,  she  preferred  the  sacrilegious 
temerity    of     one  man  before    the    Church  of    Christ,  then 
they  who  throughout  Africa  detested  the  profane  schism,  and 
were  associated  with  all  the  churches  of  the  world,  were  the 
only  ones  of  them  all  who  could  be  saved  within  the  sanctu 
aries  of  the  Catholic  faith ;  leaving  certainly  a  glorious  exam 
ple  to  their  posterity,— how,  to  wit,  ever  after,  in  a  commend 
able  manner,  the  sacred  doctrine  of  all  men  ought  to  be  pre 
ferred  before  the  madness  of  one,  or  at  all   events  of  a  few. 
[lie  next  gives  the  instance  of  the  Arians,  describes  the  per 
secutions  inflicted  by  them  on  the  orthodox,  and  thus  con 
cludes  :]  And  all   this  had  it  any  other  cause  but  that  human 
superstitions  are  introduced  for  heavenly  doctrine ;  that  well- 
grounded  antiquity  is  subverted  by  wicked  novelty ;  the  insti 
tutes  of  those  above  us  are  violated  ;  the  decrees  of  the  fathers 
are  abrogated ;  the  things  defined  by  our  forefathers  are  re 
scinded  ;  and    the   license   of  a   profane  and  novel  curiosity 
keeps  not  itself  within  the  most  chaste  limits  of  sacred  and 
uncorrupted  antiquity?      [Having  cited  the  example  of  the 
confessors  and  martyrs,  who,  '  following  the  canons  and  de 
crees  of  all  the  priests  of  holy  Church,  the  heirs  of  apostolic 
truth,'  suffered  for  and  defended  the  faith,  not  of  a  part  of  the 
Church,  but  of  the  Church  Catholic,  he  thus  concludes  this 
part  of   his  subject :]  Great  therefore  and  truly  divine  was 
the  example  of  those  same  blessed  men,  and  by  every  true  Ca 
tholic  to  be  remembered  with  unwearied  meditation,  who  all 

1  Quicquid  non  unus  aut  duo  tantum,  sed  cranes  pariter  uno  eodemque 
consensu,  aperte,   frequenter,   perseveranter,  tenuisse,  scripsisse,    docuiss 
oognoverit,  id  sibi  quoque  intelligat  absque  ulla  dubitatione  credendum. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  105 

radiant,  like  the  seven-branched  candlestick,  with  the  seven 
fold  light  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  exhibited  beforehand  to  pos 
terity  a  most  shining  model,  how,  thenceforward,  throughout 
the  whole  of  errors'  vain  babblings  (2  Tim.  ii.)  the  audacity  of 
profane  novelty  may  be  repressed  by  the  authority  of  sacred 
antiquity.1  Neither  is  this  anything  new:  seeing  that  this 
custom  has  ever  prevailed  in  the  Church,  that  the  more  re 
ligious  a  man  was,  the  more  promptly  would  he  go  counter  to 
novel  inventions.  Such  examples  are  everywhere  plentiful. 
But  not  to  be  prolix,  we  will  select  some  one,  and  this  in  pre 
ference  from  the  apostolic  see."  (For  continuation  see  "Tra 
dition")  .  .  .  "  As  it  is  not  lawful  for  any  to  provoke  one 
another  or  to  envy  one  another  (Gal.  v.),  even  so  it  is  not  law 
ful  for  any  to  receive  besides  that  which  the  Catholic  Church 
evangelizes  everywhere.2  .  .  .  To  announce,  therefore,  to  Ca 
tholic  Christians,  anything  besides  that  which  they  have  re 
ceived,  never  was  lawful,  nowhere  is  lawful,  never  will  be 
lawful;  and  to  anathematize  those  who  announce  anything 
besides  that  which  has  been  once  received,  was  never  other 
wise  than  needful,  is  everywhere  needful,  ever  will  be  need 
ful.3  Which  being  so,  is  there  any  one  of  so  great  audacity 
as  to  teach  besides  that  which  has  been  taught  in  the  Church ; 
or  of  such  levity  as  to  receive  (anything)  besides  that  which 
he  has  received  from  the  Church  ?  There  cries  aloud,  and  he 
cries  aloud  again  and  again,  to  all  men,  to  all  times,  and  to  all 
places  he  cries  aloud  by  his  epistles,  that  vessel  of  election, 
that  master  of  the  Gentiles  .  .  .  that  if  any  one  announce  a 
new  dogma,  let  him  be  anathematized.  And,  on  the  other 
side,  certain  frogs,  and  gnats  and  flies,  soon  to  die,  such  as  the 

1  Quonam  modo  deinceps  per  singula  quaeque  errorum  vaniloquia,  sacra- 
tae  vetustatis  auctoritate,  prophanae  novitatis  conteratur  audacia. 

2  Nemini  liceat  praeter  id  quod  Ecclesia  Catholica  usquequaque  evange- 
lizat  accipere. 

3  Adnunciare  ergo  aliquid  Christianis  Catholicis,  prater  id  quod  accepe- 
runt,  nunquam  licuit,  nusquam  licet,  nunquam  licebit,  et  anathematizare 
eos  qui  adnuncient  aliquid,  praeterquam  quod  semel  acceptum  est,  nunquam 
non  oportuit,  nusquam  non  oportet,  nunquam  non  oportebit. 


106  AUTHORITY 

Pelagians  be,  cry  aloud  in  opposition,  and  this  to  Catholics, 
'  With  us  for  your  authors,  with  us  for  your  leaders,  with  us 
for  your  interpreters,  condemn  the  things  which  you  did  hold, 
hold  the  things  which  you  did  condemn,  reject  the  ancient 
faith,  the  institutes  of  your  fathers,  the  trust  committed  to 
you  by  your  ancestors,  and  receive ' — What,  indeed  ?  I  shud 
der  to  say  what,  for  so  presumptuous  are  they,  that  they  seem 
to  me  such  as  that  I  could  not  only  not  support  them,  but  not 
even  refute  them  without  a  grievous  crime."  (For  continua 
tion,  see  "  Private  Judgment.'1') 

"  Oftentimes  pondering  and  reflecting  on  these  self-same 
things,  I  cannot  sufficiently  marvel  that  such  is  the  madness  of 
some  men,  such  the  impiety  of  their  blinded  understanding, 
such,  in  fine,  their  lust  after  error,  that  they  be  not  content 
with  the  rule  of  belief  once  delivered  and  received  from  an 
tiquity,  but  do  daily  seek  after  something  new  and  yet  some 
thing  new,  and  ever  be  longing  to  add  something  to  religion, 
to  change,  to  take  away  ;'  as  though  it  were  not  a  doctrine  from 
heaven,  which  once  revealed  suffices,  but  an  earthly  institution, 
which  cannot  otherwise  be  perfected  than  by  continual  amend 
ment,  yea,  rather,  correction  :  whereas  the  divine  oracles  cry  out, 
Do  not  transfer  the  bounds  which  thy  fathers  have  set  (Prov. 
xxii.) ;  and,  Do  not  judge  over  the  judge  (Ecclus.  viii.) ;  and, 
The  serpent  shall  lite  him  that  breaketh  a  hedge  (Eccles.  x.) ; 
and  that  apostolic  saying  by  which  all  wicked  novelties  of  all 
heresies  have  often,  as  by  a  kind  of  spiritual  sword,  been  cut  off, 
and  ever  will  be  cut  off :  O  Timothy,  keep  that  which  is  com 
mitted  to  thy  trust  (the  depositum),  avoiding  the  prof  ane  nov 
elties  of  words  (of  voices),  and  oppositions  of  knowledge  falsely 
so  called,  which  some  promising,  have  erred  concerning  the 
faith  (1  Tim.  vi.)  .  .  .  Avoid,  he  says,  the  profane  novelties 
of  words  :  he  said  not,  (avoid)  antiquities  ;  he  said  not,  (avoid) 
ancientness  ;  yea,  rather,  he  shows  what  contrariwise  he  should 

1  Content!  non  sint  tradita  serael  et  accepta  antiquitus  credendi  regula, 
sed  nova  ac  nova  in  diem  quadrant,  semperque  aliquid  gestiant  religion!  ad- 
dere,  nmtare,  detrahere. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  107 

follow.  For  if  novelty  is  to  be  avoided,  antiquity  is  to  be 
held  to  :  and  if  novelty  be  profane,  antiquity  is  sacred.1  .  .  . 
But  it  is  worth  while  to  handle  with  greater  care  the  whole 
passage  (capitulum)  of  the  Apostle :  O  Timothy,  keep  the  de 
positum,  avoiding  the  prof  ane  novelties  of  words.  .  .  .  Who 
is  at  this  day  Timothy  ?  but  either,  generally,  the  universal 
Church,  or,  specially,  the  whole  body  of  prelates,  who  ought 
either  themselves  to  have  a  complete  knowledge  of  divine 
worship,  or  who  ought  to  infuse  it  into  others.2  What  is, 
Keep  the  deposit  f  Keep  it,  he  says,  for  fear  of  thieves,  for 
fear  of  enemies,  lest,  whilst  men  sleep,  they  oversow  cockle 
upon  that  good  seed  of  wheat,  which  the  Son  of  man  hath 
sowed  in  His  field.  Keep,  he  says,  the  depositum.  What  is 
the  depositum  f  that  is  that  which  is  committed  to  thee,  not 
that  which  is  invented  by  thee ;  what  thou  hast  received,  not 
what  thou  hast  devised ;  a  thing  not  of  wit,  but  of  doctrine, 
not  of  private  assumption,  but  of  public  tradition  ;3  a  thing 
brought  to  thee,  not  brought  forth  by  thee;  wherein  thou 
must  not  be  an  author,  but  a  keeper ;  not  a  beginner,  but  a 
disciple ;  not  a  leader,  but  a  follower.  The  depositum,  he 
says,  keep  :  preserve  the  talent  of  Catholic  faith  inviolate  and 
untouched :  that  which  is  entrusted  to  thee,  let  that  remain 
with  thee,  let  that  be  delivered  by  thee.  Thou  hast  received 
gold,  return  gold ;  I  will  not  have  thee  substitute  one  thing 
for  another;  I  will  not  have  thee,  for  gold,  place  instead 
either  impudently  lead,  or  fraudulently  brass ;  I  will  not  the 
show,  but  the  very  nature  of  the  gold  itself.  O  Timothy, 
O  priest,  O  expounder,  O  doctor,  if  the  divine  bounty  hath 
made  thee  sufficient,  by  wit,  by  exercise,  by  learning,  be  the 
Beseleel  of  the  spiritual  tabernacle,  engrave  the  precious 
stones  of  God's  doctrine,  faithfully  set  them,  &c.  .  .  .  That 

1  Nam  si  vitanda  est  novitas,  tenenda  est  antiquitas ;  et  si  prophana  est 
novitas,  sacrata  est  antiquitas. 

2  Quis  est  hodie   Timotheus,  nisi  vel  generaliter  universa  ecclesia,  vel 
specialiter  totum  corpus  praepositorum,  qui  integram  divini  cultus  (religion) 
scientiara  vel  habere  ipsi  debent,  vel  aliis  infundere. 

3  Non  usurpationis  privatse,  sed  publicae  traditionis. 


108  AUTHORITY 

which  before  was  believed  obscurely,  let  it  by  thy  exposition 
be  understood  more  clearly.  Let  posterity  rejoice  at  coining, 
through  thee,  to  the  understanding  of  that  which  antiquity, 
without  understanding  it,  venerated;  yet  the  things  which 
thou  hast  learned,  teach  in  such  wise,  that,  whilst  thou  speak- 
est  after  a  new  manner,  thou  speak  not  new  things.1 

"  But,  haply,  some  one  says,  shall  we  then  have  no  advance 
ment  of  religion  in  the  Church  of  Christ  ?  Let  us  have  it  in 
deed,  and  the  greatest.  For  who  is  he  so  envious  of  men,  so 
hateful  to  God,  as  to  strive  to  hinder  this  ?  But  yet  in  such 
sort,  that  it  be  truly  an  advancement  of  faith,  not  a  change.8 
Seeing  that  it  is  the  nature  of  an  advancement,  that  in  it 
self  each  thing  (severally)  grow  greater ;  but  of  a  change,  that 
something  be  turned  from  one  thing  into  another.  Wherefore, 
the  understanding,  knowledge,  wisdom,  as  well  of  each  as  of 
all,  as  well  of  one  man  as  of  the  whole  Church,  ought,  with 
the  advance  of  times  and  ages,  to  increase  and  go  forward 
abundantly  and  earnestly  ;  but  in  its  own  kind  only,  in  the 
same  doctrine,  to  wit,  in  the  same  sense  and  in  the  same  senti 
ment,8  Let  the  religion  of  our  souls  imitate  the  nature  of  our 
bodies,  which,  though  in  process  of  years  they  develop  their 
proportions,  yet  do  those  bodies  remain  the  same  that  they 
were.  ...  So  also  the  doctrine  of  the  Christian  religion  must 
follow  these  laws  of  advancement ;  namely,  that  with  years  it 
be  consolidated,  it  be  expanded  with  time,  with  age  it  be 
exalted  ;  yet  remain  uncorrupt  and  untouched,  and  be  full  and 
perfect  in  all  the  proportions  of  each  of  its  parts,  and  with  all 
its  members,  as  it  were,  and  proper  senses ;  that  it  admit  no 
change  besides,  sustain  no  loss  of  its  propriety,  no  variety  of 
definition.  .  .  .  Wherefore,  whatsoever,  in  this  Church,  God's 
husbandry,  has  by  the  faith  of  our  fathers  been  sown,  that 
same  must  be  cultivated  by  the  industry  of  their  children,  that 

1  Eadem  tamen  quae  didicisti  ita  doce,  ut  cum  dicas  nove  non  dicas  nova. 

2  Sed  ita  tamen,  ut  vere  profectus  sit  ille  fidei,  non  permutatio. 

3  Sed  in  suo  duntaxat  genere,  in  eodem  scilicet  dogmate,  eodem  sensu, 
eademque  sententia. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  109 

same  flourish  and  ripen,  that  same  advance  and  be  perfected. 
For  it  is  lawful  that  these  ancient  dogmas  of  heavenly  philo 
sophy  be,  in  progress  of  time,  trimmed,  smoothed,  polished ; 
but  it  is  not  lawful  that  they  be  changed,  it  is  not  lawful  that 
they  be  mangled,  that  they  be  maimed.     Although  they  may 
receive  evidence,  light,  distinction ;  yet  necessary  is  it  that 
they  retain  their  fulness,  integrity,  and  propriety.1     For  if 
once  this  licentiousness  of  impious  fraud  be  admitted,  I  trem 
ble  to  say  what  danger  may  follow  of  extirpating  and  abolish 
ing  religion.     For  if  any  part  soever  of  Catholic  doctrine  be 
surrendered,  another  part  also,  and  again  another,  and  so  on 
other,  and  again  other,  will  now  as  it  were  by  custom,  and  a 
kind  of  law,  be  surrendered.2 .  .  .  But  may  the  divine  mercy 
avert  this  crime  from  the  minds  of  His  servants,  and  be  this 
rather  the  madness  of  the  impious.     But  the  Church  of  Christ, 
a  sedulous  and  careful  keeper  of  the  doctrines  deposited  with 
her,  changes  nothing  in  them  ever,  diminishes  nothing,  adds 
nothing ;  she  cuts  not  off  what  is  necessary,  she  puts  not  on 
what  is  superfluous ;  what  is  her  own  she  loses  not,  what  is 
another's  she  usurps  not ;  but  with  all  industry  applieth  to 
this  one  thing,  that  by  handling  ancient  things  faithfully  and 
wisely,  she  may  perfect  and  polish  what  things  there  may  be 
of  old  unfinished  and  begun ;  if  aught  have  been  already  set 
forth  and  cleared  up,  that  she  may  ratify  and  confirm  ;  if  aught 
have  already  been  confirmed  and  defined,  that  she  may  guard 
it."     (For  an  illustration  of  this,  see  the  extract  given  under 
u  General  Councils.")     "  But  let  us  return  to  the  Apostle.  .  . 
Profane  novelties  of  words,   he   says.     What  is  profane? 
Things  which  have  no  holiness,  naught  of  religion,  wholly 
extraneous  to  the  sanctuaries  of  the  Church,  which  is  the  tem- 

1  Fas  est  etenim,  ut  prisca  ilia  coelestis  philosophise  dogmata  processu 
temporis  excurentur,  limentur,  poliantur;  sed  nefas  est,  ut  commutentur, 
nefas  ut  detruncentur,  ut  mutilentur.     Accipiant  licet  evidentiam,  lucem, 
distinctionem ;  sed  retineant  necesse  est  plenitudinem,   integritatem,  pro- 
prietatem. 

2  Abdicata  etenim  qualibet  parte  Catholici  dogmatis,  alia  quoque  atque 
item  alia,  ac  deinceps  alia  et  alia  jam  quasi  ex  more  et  licito  abdicabuntur. 


110  AUTHORITY 

pie  of  God.  Profane  novelties  of  words  (voices),  he  says ; 
of  words,  that  is,  novelties  of  dogmas,  of  things,  of  opinions, 
which  are  contrary  to  old  usage  and  antiquity.  Which,  if 
they  be  received,  it  must  needs  be  that  the  faith,  either  all,  or 
assuredly  a  great  part  of  it,  of  our  blessed  fathers,  must  be 
overthrown  (violated) ;  it  must  needs  be  that  all  the  faithful  of 
all  ages,  all  the  saints,  all  the  chaste,  the  continent,  the  virgins, 
all  the  clergy,  the  Levites  and  priests,  so  many  thousands  of 
confessors,  so  great  armies  of  martyrs,  so  many  celebrated  and 
populous  cities  and  peoples,  so  many  islands,  provinces,  kings, 
tribes,  kingdoms,  nations,  and,  in  fine,  almost  now  the  whole 
world  incorporated  by  the  Catholic  faith  to  Christ  their  head, 
must  be  proclaimed  to  have  been,  during  the  lapse  of  so  many 
ages,  ignorant ;  to  have  erred,  to  have  blasphemed,  to  have  not 
known  what  it  should  believe."  (For  continuation,  see  "  L\de- 
fectibUity.") 

ST.  PETER  CHRYSOLOGUS,  L.  C.1 — "I  believe  ...  in  the 
Holy  Catholic  Church.  Because  the  Church  is  in  Christ,  and 
Christ  is  in  the  Church :  whoso,  therefore,  acknowledges  the 
Church,  has  confessed  that  he  has  believed  in  the  Church." 
—Serin.  Ixii.  De  Symbolo,p.  97. 

ST.  LEO  L,  POPE.' — u  Be  ever  mindful  of  the  apostolic  pre 
cept,  which  admonishes  all  men,  saying,  Beware  lest  any  man 
cheat  you  by  philosophy  and  vain  deceit ;  according  to  the 
tradition  of  men,  and  not  according  to  Christ.  For  in  Him 
dwelleth  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  corporally,  and  you 
are  filed  with  Him.  (Coloss.  ii.)  He  said  not  spiritually,  but 
corporally,  that  we  may  understand  the  veritable  substance  of 
flesh,  where  there  is  the  corporal  indwelling  of  the  fulness 
of  the  Godhead ;  with  which  (corporal  indwelling)  the  whole 
Church  is  in  truth  also  filled,  which  cleaving  (inherent)  to  the 

1  Born  at  Imola,  he  was  raised  to  the  archiepiscopal  see  of  Ravenna 
about  the  year  433.     It  is  uncertain  whether  his  death  occurred  in  458  or  in 
450.     The  edition  used  is  the  folio  edition  published  at  Aug.  Vind.  1758. 

2  Surnamed  the  Great.      Of  his  early  years  nothing  is  known.     He  was 
raised  to  the  chair  of  Rome  in  440  and  died  in  461.     The  edition  followed  is 
that  of  the  Fratres  BaUerimi,  Venet.  1753-57. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  HI 

head,  is  the  body  of  Christ." ' — T.  i.  Serm.  xxviii.  In  Nativ. 
Dom.  ix.  c.  vii.^>.  102. 

"  He  it  is  who  ascends  above  the  heights  of  heaven,  and 
even  to  the  consummation  of  the  world  leaves  not  the  uni 
versal  Church." 3 — Serm,.  xxx.  In  Nat.  Dom.  x.  c.  v.  p.  109. 

"  For  though  it  belong  not  to  this  life,  but  to  eternal  life, 
that  God  be  all  in  all,  yet  even  now  is  He  the  inseparable  in- 
dweller  of  His  own  temple,  which  is  the  Church,  according  as 
Himself  promised,  saying,  Behold,  I  am  with  you  all  days 
even  to  the  consummation  of  the  world.  With  which  is  accor 
dant  what  the  Apostle  says,  Coloss.  i.  18-20." — Ib.  Serm.  Ixiii. 
De  Passio.  Dom.  xii.  c.  ii.  p.  244. 

Directing  upon  what  conditions  the  Pelagians  were  to  be 
received  into  the  Church,  he  says,  "  Let  them,  by  their  own 
clear  confessions,  condemn  the  authors  of  their  proud  error, 
and  let  them  execrate  in  their  doctrine  whatsoever  the  univer 
sal  Church  has  abhorred." 3 — Ib.  Ep.  i.  ad  Aquilei.  c.  ii.  p.  591. 

"  For  it  is  nowise  to  be  borne,  that  the  man  who  has  under 
taken  the  office  of  preaching  the  faith,  should  dare  dispute 
against  the  Gospel  of  Christ ;  against  the  apostolic  doctrine  ; 
against  the  creed  of  the  universal  Church.  What  kind  of  dis 
ciples  will  there  be  there,  where  such  are  the  masters  that 
teach?" — 11).  Ep.  xv.  ad  Turrib.  Ep.  Asturic.  c.  xvii.p.  710. 

"  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  after  that  He  rose  again  from  the 
dead,  delivered  to  His  disciples,  in  whom  all  the  prelates  of 
the  Church  were  taught,4  both  the  form  and  the  power  of 
baptizing,  saying,  Go  ye  and  teach  all  nations,  &c" — Ib.  ep. 
xvi.  Ad  Univers.  Episc.per  Sicil.  c.  iii.  p.  719. 

1  Ubi  est  plenitudinis  Divinitatis  inhabitatio  corporalis ;  qua  utique  tota 
etiam  repletur  ecclesia,  quae  inhaerens  capiti,  corpus  est  Christi. 

2  Et  usque  ad  consummationem  saeculi  universam  ecclesiam  non  relin- 
quens. 

3  Quicquid  in  doctrina  eorum  universalis  ecclesia  exhorruit,  detestentur. 
Of  works  used  as  Divine  Scripture  by  heretics  he  says,   "  Let  him  not  be  ac 
counted  amongst  Catholics  who  uses  writings  whicn  have  been  condemned, 
not  only  by  the  Catholic  Church  (non  ab  ecclesia  solum  Catholica),  but  even 
by,  (or  in)  the  author  of  them."— T7.  i.  Ep.  xv.  ad  Turrib.  c.  xvi.  p.  707 

4  In  quibus  ornnes  ecclesiarum  prsesules  docebantur. 


112  AUTHORITY 

"  The  divine  protection  abandons  not  its  own  Church,  the 
Lord  declaring,1  Behold  I  am  with  you  all  days,  even  to  the 
end  of  the  world."— Ib.  ep.  Ix.  Pulch.  Aug.  p.  982. 

"It  is  not  lawful  to  differ,  even  by  one  word,  from  the 
evangelic  and  apostolic  doctrine,  or  to  think  otherwise  concern 
ing  the  divine  Scriptures  than  as  the  blessed  Apostles  and  our 
Fathers  learned  and  taught."3 — 11.  ep.  Ixxxii.  ad  Marcion. 
Aug.  pp.  10,  44. 

"  The  Catholic  faith,  which,  the  Spirit  of  God  instructing 
us  through  the  holy  Fathers,  we  from  the  blessed  Apostles 
have  learnt  and  teach,3  will  not  suffer  either  error  (the  Nes- 
torian  and  Eutychian)  to  creep  in." — 11.  ep.  Ixxxix.  ad  Marc. 
Aug.  p.  1061. 

"  We,  therefore,  pray,  and  beseech  your  clemency,  by  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  .  .  .  that  you  suffer  not,  in  the  present 
synod,  that  faith  delivered  unto  them  by  the  Apostles  which 
our  blessed  Fathers  taught,  to  be  treated  of  again  as  though 
dubious  ;  and  that  you  permit  not  the  things  which  were 
formerly  condemned  by  the  authority  of  our  forefathers,4  to 
be  revived  by  renewed  efforts;  and  that  you  command  this 
rather,  that  the  things  settled  by  the  old  Nicean  Council,  the 
interpretation  of  heretics  set  aside,  be  permanent." — Ep.  xc. 
ad  Marc.  c.  2,  p.  1064. 

"  For  the  restlessness  or  pravity  of  a  few  individuals  being 
either  crushed,  or  removed,  a  laudable  concord  will  easily  be 
settled  ;  provided  the  hearts  of  all  concur  in  that  faith  made 
known  by  the  evangelic  and  apostolic  declarations,  which  we 
have,  through  our  holy  Fathers,  received  and  held  ; 6  no  dis- 

1  Non  deserit  ecclesiara  suam  divina  protectio,  dicente  Domino. 

2  Ab  evangelica  apostolicaque  doctrina  ne  uno  quidem  verbo  liceat  dis- 
sidere,  aut  aliter  de  Scripturis  divinis  sapere  (be  wise  out  of  the  Sacred 
Scriptures),  quam  beati  Apostoli  et  Patres  nostri  didicerunt  atque  docuerunt. 

3  Catholica  fides,  quam  instruente  nos  Spiritu  Dei  per  sanctos  Patres  a 
beatis  Apostolis  didicimus  et  docemus. 

4  Fidem  quam  beati  Patres  nostri  ab  Apostolis  sibi  traditampraedicanmt. 
non  patiamini  quasi  dubium  retractari;  et  qua?  olim  majorum  sunt  auctori- 
tate  damnata. 

6  Earn  fidem  quam  Evangelicis  et  Apostolicis  praedicationibus  declaratam, 
per  sanctos  Patres  nostros  accepimus  et  tenemus. 


OF   THE  CHURCH.  H3 

cussion  whatever  involving  any  retractation  being  allowed 
of,  lest,  through  vain  and  deceitful  subtlety,  those  things  may 
seem  to  be  either  weak  or  doubtful,  which  from  the  beginning 
were  built  on  the  chief  corner-stone,  which  is  Christ  the  Lord, 
and  which  things  will  endure  without  end." — Ep.  xciv.  ad 
eund.  p.  1075. 

"  As,  then,  the  universal  Church  has,  through  the  establish 
ing  (building)  of  that  principal  rock,  been  made  a  rock,  and 
the  first  of  the  Apostles,  the  most  blessed  Peter,  heard  from 
the  voice  of  the  Lord  declaring,  Thou  art  Peter,  and  upon 
this  rock  I  will  build  my  Church  ;  who  is  there,  but  either 
antichrist  or  the  Devil,  who  can  dare  to  assail  an  impregnable 
firmness  ; '  who,  continuing  unchangeable  in  his  malice,  by 
means  of  vessels  of  wrath  suited  to  his  own  deceitfulness, 
under  the  false  name  of  eloquence,  while  he  falsely  affects  to 
seek  for  truth,  seeks  to  sow  lies  ?  "—Ep.  clvi.  ad  Leon.  Aug.  c. 
2,  pp.  1322,  1333. 

SOCKATES,  G.  C.3 — Having  narrated  that  the  emperor  caused 
the  bishops  and  heads  of  the  various  sects  to  be  assembled  to 
gether,  in  order,  if  possible,  to  bring  about  unity  of  faith,  he 
says:  "The  emperor  having  sent  for  ]STectarius,  bishop  (of 
Constantinople),  conferred  with  him  as  to  what  means  could 
be  used  that  Christendom  might  no  longer  be  at  discord,  but 
the  Church  be  united  ;  and  said  that  the  question  that  divided 
the  churches  must  be  discussed,  and  having  set  aside  diversity, 
unanimity  be  produced  in  the  churches.  When  Nectarius 
heard  this,  he  was  lost  in  thought,  and  having  sent  for  Agelius, 
who,  agreeing  with  him  in  faith,  was  at  that  time  a  bishop 
of  the  Novatians,3  he  made  known  to  him  the  mind  of  the 
emperor.  But,  though  in  other  respects  a  religious  man,  not 

1  Cum  ergo  universalis  ecclesia  per  illius  principalis  petrae  sedificationem, 
facta  sit  petra  .  .  .  quis  est,  nisi  aut  Antichristus  aut  Diabolus,  qui  pulsare 
audeat  inexpugnabilem  firmitatem. 

2  Born  about  the  year  380.     His  "Ecclesiastical  History"  is,  for  the 
most  part,  a  continuation  of  that  by  Eusebius.     It  begins  with  the  year 
306,  and  closes  with  the  year  439.      The  edition  used  is  that  of  Valesius  by 
Reading,  Cantab.  1720. 

3  Socrates,  it  must  be  remarked,  was  tainted  with  the  Novatian  heresy. 


114  AUTHORITY 

being  one  who  had  ability  to  stand  a  discussion  regarding 
doctrine,  he  chose  the  lector,  Sisinnius  by  name,  to  discuss. 
But  Sisinnius,  a  learned  and  experienced  man,  and  one  well 
skilled  both  in  the  interpretations  of  the  sacred  writings,  and 
in  the  doctrines  of  the  philosophers,  knew  that  discussions  do 
not  bring  schisms  to  unity,  but  even  rather  make  heresies  more 
contentious ;  he,  therefore,  gave  Nectarius  some  such  advice 
as  this.  Knowing  that  the  ancients  were  abhorrent  from  as 
signing  any  beginning  of  existence  to  the  Son  of  God,  for  they 
accounted  Him  co-eternal  with  the  Father,  he  advises  him 
to  avoid  any  logical  encounters,  but  to  call  in  as  witnesses  the 
expositions  of  the  ancients ; '  and  that  the  heresiarchs  be  asked 
by  the  emperor  whether  they  make  any  account  of  the  united 
doctors  wrho  were  before  the  division  in  the  Church,  or  whether 
they  repudiated  them  as  aliens  from  Christianity.  For  if  they 
reject  them,  then  let  them  dare  to  anathematize  them ;  and 
should  they  dare  to  do  this,  they  will  be  driven  away  by  the 
people.  And  this  done,  the  victory  of  the  truth  will  be  mani 
fest.  But  if  they  do  not  repudiate  the  ancients,  it  is  for  us  tc* 
produce  the  books  of  the  ancients  by  which  our  doctrine  will 
be  testified  to.  When  Nestorius  had  heard  this  from  Sisinnius, 
he  went  in  haste  to  the  palace,  and  makes  known  to  the  em 
peror  what  he  had  been  advised.  But  he  eagerly  seizes  the 
opinion,  and  handled  the  matter  skilfully.  For,  without  de 
claring  his  object  beforehand,  he  merely  asked  whether  they 
make  account  of,  and  receive  what  (was  held)  by  the  doctors 
who  preceded  the  division  in  the  Church  ?  And  as  they  did 
not  deny  this,  but  declare  that  they  'even  honor  them  very 
much  as  guides,8  the  emperor  next  inquired  whether  they  ad 
hered  to  (marched  with)  such  faith-worthy  witnesses  of  Chris 
tian  doctrine  ? 3  "When  the  leaders  of  those  sects,  and  their 
dialecticians,  for  there  were  many  with  them  well  prepared 
for  the  logical  conflict,  heard  this,  they  knew  not  what  to  do. 

1  Td$  EHdo6Ei<3  T&V  7taA.aiGov.     See  Vales,  in  loco. 

2  '^AA«  nai  Ttdvv  TIUOLV  avrovS  ok  KabrjyrtTd*,  eiitovroov. 

3  El   TovroiS  6roixov6iv   d&onitiToiS    /ddprvtii    rov 
day  ti 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  11J> 

For  there  arose  a  difference  of  opinion  amongst  them,  some 
saying  that  the  proposal  of  the  emperor  was  fair,  but  others 
that  it  was  not  conducive  to  their  object.  For  they  were 
variously  disposed  towards  the  books  of  the  ancients,  and  they 
no  longer  agreed  amongst  themselves ;  and  they  not  only  dis 
sented  from  other  sects,  but  even  they  who  were  of  the  same 
heresy  disagreed  among  themselves.  The  accordant  (uni vocal) 
wickedness,  like  the  language  of  the  giants  of  old,  was  divided, 
and  this  tower  of  wickedness  was  overthrown.  But  the  em 
peror,  acquainted  with  their  wide-spread  separation,  and  that 
they  confided  in  disputation  only,  and  not  in  the  expositions 
of  the  ancients,  proceeded  to  a  second  purpose." — Hist.  Eccles. 
I.  v.  G.  x.  pp.  272,  273. 

ARNOBIUS  JUNIOR,  L.  C.1 — "He  who  came  down  from  Heaven 
to  assume  our  humanity,  never  left  Heaven,  as  it  is  written, 
I  will  fill  Heaven  and  earth  (Jer.  xxiii.)  And  He  who  as 
cended  into  Heaven  from  these  (terrestrial)  things,  never 
abandoned  us.  For  so  Himself  promised,  saying,  Behold  I 
am  with  you  all  days,  even  to  the  consummation  of  the  world" 
—Conflict.  Arnob.  et  Serapion.  p.  230,  t.  viii.  Bihl.  Maxim. 
SS.  PP. 

"  The  seed  of  the  servants  of  Christ  .  .  .  possess  the  doc 
trines  of  the  Apostles,  and  they  who  shall  love  the  name  of 
the  Lord  shall  dwell  therein  (Ps.  Ixviii.),  that  is,  in  faith,  in 
doctrine,  in  the  Church,  in  which  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  with 
the  Father,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  reigns  now  and  for  ages  of 
ages." — Comm.  in  Ps.  Ixviii.  Ib.p.  27-i. 

APPlymg  Ps.  ciii.  to  Christ,  he  says :  "  It  was  then  lie 
made  His  angels  spirits.  Angels  are  called  in  the  Latin 
tongue  nuncii,  messengers,  and  the  Gospel  is  interpreted  a 
good  message.  He,  therefore,  then  made  If  is  angels,  that  is, 
the  Apostles,  spirits,  when  He  said  to  them,  Receive  the  Holy 

1  Said  to  be  a  monk  of  Lerins.  He  flourished  a  little  later  than  the  time 
of  St.  Leo.  Some  critics  imagine  that  the  author  of  the  Confl.  cum  Sera- 
pione  is  different  from  that  of  the  writer  of  the  Comment,  in  Psalmos, 
though  bearing  the  same  name  and  living  at  about  the  same  period.  The 
edition  used  is  that  given  in  the  BiU.  Maxim.  SS.  PP.  t.  viii. 


116  AUTHORITY 

Spirit,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature.  And  He 
then  made  them  a  burning  fire,  when  the  Holy  Spirit  sat,  as 
fire,  on  each  of  them.  lie  then  founded  the  earth  on  its  own 
firmness,  recalling,  that  is,  the  earthly  minds  of  the  Gen 
tiles, — which,  in  the  building  of  the  tower,  had  been  divided, 
—unto  their  own  firmness.  He  strengthens  them  by  that  one 
word,  Jesus  Christ,  and  He  so  founds  amongst  them  His 
Church  upon  this  rock,  as  that  it  shall  not  be  moved  for  ever 
and  ever.  Let  philosophers  keep  to  themselves  their  fruitless 
inquiries,  and  with  mighty  toil  declare  that  they  can  discover 
that  the  earth  has  a  deep  beneath  it,  wherewith  it  is  clothed  as 
with  a  garment,  but  let  us  turn  the  point  of  our  discourse 
to  this  earth  which  \$>  founded  on  the  firmness  of  the  Church. 
For  the  deep  encompasses  it.  For  the  depth  of  the  riches 
of  wisdom  which  encompasses  it  is  fathomless,  and  above  its 
waters  shall  the  mountains  stand.  Whoso  have  their  hearts 
raised  on  high  are  mountains,  and  above  them  the  waters 
stand.  Above  them  stands  the  hallowing  of  Baptism ;  they 
stand  in  the  right  faith,  they  are  not  driven  about  by  every 
wind  of  doctrine.  .  .  .  This  great  sea  which  strctcheth  wide 
its  arms,  tfcc., — lie  would  have  us  know  that  a  great  and  wide 
sea,  is  the  whole  law  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament.  There 
are  creeping  things  without  number;  in  the  law  the  Jews; 
in  the  law  the  Samaritans ;  and  in  the  law  the  Heretics ;  and 
in  the  law  the  Catholics ;  in  the  law,  kings,  &c.;  in  the  law, 
little  and  great,  there  the  ships  go,  the  alone  churches  of  all 
the  provinces,  (churches)  which  bear  their  passengers  to  the 
kingdom  of  heaven, — from  the  cities  of  earth  to  the  city  of 
Jerusalem,  our  mother.  But  he  that  shall  be  found  without  a 
ship  in  this  great  sea,  shall  meet  with  the  dragon  which  has 
been  formed  to  make  sport  of  them  .  .  .  with  those,  that  is, 
who  repudiate  the  ships,  and  deliver  themselves  up,  like  ani 
mals,  to  the  waves  and  depths  of  the  law,  without  a  master  who 
is  a  Catholic,  and  who  derives  the  tradition  of  the  law  from 
the  Apostles.1  Wherefore,  because  that  they  are  without  the 

1  II]  is  utique  qui  naves  recusant,  et  quasi  animales  sine  magistro  Catho- 


OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Church,  wandering  about  amongst  creatures  little  and  great, 
they  meet  with  a  dragon,  that  so  makes  sport  of  them,  as 
that  they  fancy  that  they  are  wiser  than  the  Catholics ; '  and, 
according  to  their  own  fancies,  they  meet  with  the  destruction 
of  eternal  death,  when  they  have  sunk  into  the  depths. 
Let  us,  therefore,  sing  unto  the  Lord  our  God.  .  .  .  Sweet 
may  our  praise  be  unto  Him,  sweetened  with  Catholic  doc 
trines,  bringing  with  it  nothing  from  the  disease  of  the  Jews, 
nothing  from  the  disease  of  the  heretics."—  Com.  in  Ps.  ciii. 
t.  viii.  Bib.  Max.  PP.  pp.  294,  295.  See  the  extract,  from 
Ib.p.  299,  given  under  "Roman  Catholic  Church." 

"  Why  build,  ye  Jews  ?  why  watch,  ye  heretics  I  In  vain 
do  ye  this,  because  the  Lord  neither  builds,  nor  watches  with 
you.  But,  ye  orthodox,  who  love  Christ  in  incorruptness, 
fear  not ;  build  in  security,  because  the  Lord  builds  with  you. 

For  you  are  Gods  husbandry,  you  are  Gods  building (1 

Cor.  iii.):  watch,  for  the  Lord  not  only  watches  with  you, 
but  awakes  you  when  fallen  asleep,  saying,  Watch  with  me ; 
watch  and  pray  that  ye  enter  not  into  temptation  (Matt,  xxvi.) 
.  .  .  Why  will  the  Lord  come  ?  That,  in  the  resurrection, 
the  inheritance  of  the  Lord  may  be  manifested  ;  in  which 
(resurrection)  all  the  sons  of  God  receive  an  inheritance,  if 
so  be  that  they  shall  have  been  the  children  of  His  womb, 
that  is,  if  they  shall  have  been  baptized  in  the  font  of  Catho 
lic  faith;2  there  is  the  womb  of  the  Church  which  bears  chil 
dren  unto  Him."— In  Ps.  cxxvi.  p.  3U,  Ib. 

Applying  Ps.  cxxxi.  11  et  seqq.  "  And  now  even  to  this 
day  do  the  sons  of  the  Apostles  sit  upon  their  chairs,  having 
also  themselves  the  power  of  binding  and  of  loosing.  But 
this  has  been  granted  to  them  because  the  Lord  would  not  have 
the  synagogue  of  error,  but  chose  holy  Sion,  the  Church  to  wit 
of  the  right  faith,  which  He,  in  His  foreknowledge,  chose  for 

lico,  et  ab  apostolis  ducente  traditionem   (and  one  who  derives   tradition 
from  the  Apostles),  legis  se  fluctibus  et  altitudinibus  tradunt. 

1  Inveniunt  draconem,  ita  sibi  illudentem,  ut  putent  se  melius  Catho- 
licis  sapere,  et  ad  arbitrium  suum  inveniunt  interitum. 

2  Si  in  fonte  Catholics  fidei  fuerint  baptizati. 


118         AUTHORITY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

His  dwelling,  wherein  is  God's  rest  for  ever  and  ever  /  where 
in  He  dwells,  because  He  hath  chosen  it ;  wherein  the  widows 
are  blessed  in  chastity ;  wherein  the  poor  are  satislied  with 
the  bread  of  mercy  ;  wherein  the  priests  are  clothed  with  jus 
tice;  wherein  the  saints  exult  with  great  joy;  wherein  the 
horn  is  brought  forth.  Therefore  shall  it  be  the  kingdom  of 
David.  She  (the  Church)  is  the  light,  which,  placed  upon  the 
candlestick,  shines  for  all  who  are  in  the  house,  that  is,  who 
are  in  the  faith  of  Christ  Jesus ;  in  such  wise  that  every  asser 
tion,  on  the  other  hand,  besides  hers,  shines  indeed  in  words, 
and  carries  with  it  matter  for  human  approbation  and  admira 
tion  ;  but,  being  placed  under  a  bushel,  it  shines  not  for  those 
who  are  in  the  house,  but  for  those  whom  it  finds  under  the 
bushel.  For  they  are  under  a  bushel,  they  who  have  the 
measure  of  the  true  faith  inverted,  who  are  enemies  of  the 
light  (lamp),1  which  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  means  of  the  Apos 
tles,  prepared  for  Christ  our  Lord.  Her  enemies,  therefore, 
has  He  clothed  with  the  confusion  of  anathema,  and  upon 
Christ  does  her  sanctification  flourish  throughout  all  ages."- 
In  Ps.  cxxxi.  p.  31f>,  Ib. 

SALONIUS,  L.  C.a — "Remove  not  the  ancient  landmarks 
which  thy  fathers  set  (Prov.  xxiii.)  By  the  ancient  land 
marks  he  means  the  landmarks  of  truth  and  of  faith  which 
the  Catholic  doctors  have  set  from  the  beginning.  This, 
therefore,  does  he  enjoin,  that  no  one  understand  (receive) 
the  truth  of  sacred  faith  and  of  evangelic  doctrine  otherwise 
than  as  it  has  been  transmitted  by  the  holy  fathers  ; 3  or,  this 

1  Ut  e  contrario  omnis  assertio  praeter  hanc,  lucet  quidem  in  verbis 
.  .  .  subtus  medium  quidem  degunt,  qui  mensuram  fidei  utuntur  inversam, 
qui  sunt  inimici  lucernae. 

2  The  son  of  St.  Eucherius  and  the  disciple  of  Salvian.     It  is  doubtful 
whether  he  was  bishop  of  Vienne  or  of  Geneva.     He  was  present  at  the 
Council  of  Orange  in  444.     The  edition  used  is  that  of  the  Bibl.  Max.  SS. 
PP.  t.  viii. 

3  Terminos  antiques  dicit  terminos  veritatis  et  fidei,  quos  statuerunt  ab 
initio  Catholici  doctores.     Hoc  ergo  prsecepit,  ut  veritatem  sacrae  fidei  et 
Evangelicae  uoctrinse  nemo  aliter  suscipiat  quam  a  sanctis  Patribus  est 
tradita. 


MARKS  OF  THE  CHURCH.-UNITY.  H9 

does  he  enjoin,  that  no  one  interpret  the  words  of  the  holy 
Scriptures  otherwise  than  in  accordance  with  the  meaning  of 
each  (sacred)  writer.  What  are  those  riches  of  which  he  says, 
Lift  not  up  thine  eyes  to  riches  which  thou  canst  not  have, 
because  they  shall  make  to  themselves  wings,  and  shall  fly  to 
wards  heaven  (Prov.  xxiii.)  ?  .  .  .  Those  riches  are  the  hid 
den  things  of  the  Godhead,  and  the  secrets  of  the  heavenly 
mysteries  which  thou  canst  not  penetrate,  nor  art  able  to  un 
derstand,  because  these  things  are  patent  to  the  eagles  alone, 
that  is,  to  the  heavenly  citizens  only  are  they  manifested. 
The  heaven  above,  and  the  earth  beneath,  and  the  heart  of 
kings  is  unsearchable  (Prov.  xxv.)  As  the  height  of  hea 
ven  and  the  depth  of  earth  cannot  be  comprehended  by  men, 
so  neither  is  the  capacity  of  our  feebleness  able  to  compre 
hend,  or  to  penetrate  the  depths  of  the  knowledge  and  mean 
ing  of  the  prophets  and  Apostles."  l—Expl.  Myst.  in  Salom. 
Prov.  p.  406,  t.  viii.  Bib.  Max.  SS.  PP. 

It  need  scarcely  be  remarked  that  many  other  extracts, 
which  directly  refer  to  the  authority  of  the  Church,  will  be 
found  under  the  cognate  subjects,  "The  Indefectibility  of 
the  Church,"  and  "  The  Church  the  Expounder  of  Scripture." 


MAMS    OF    THE    CHURCH. 
UNITY. 


SCRIPTURE. 

John  x.  16.  "  And  other  sheep  I  have,  that  are  not  of  this 
fold :  them  also  must  I  bring,  and  they  shall  hear  my  voice, 
and  there  shall  be  one  fold  and  one  shepherd." 

John  xi.  51,  52.  "  And  this  he  spoke  not  of  himself ;  but 
being  the  high-priest  of  that  year,  he  prophesied  that  Jesus 

1  Nostra  fragilitatis  capacitas  non  valet  comprehendere,  neque  penetrare 
latitudinem  scientiae  et  intellects  Prophetarum  et  Apostolorum. 


120  UNITY 

should  die  for  the  nation.  And  not  only  for  the  nation,  hut 
to  gather  together  in  one  the  children  of  God  that  were  dis 
persed." 

John  xvii.  20-22.  "  And  not  for  them  only  do  I  pray,  but 
for  them  also  who  through  their  word  shall  believe  in  me : 
that  they  all  may  be  one,  as  Thou,  Father,  in  me,  and  I  in 
Thee  :  that  they  also  may  be  one  in  us  :  that  the  world  may 
believe  that  Thou  hast  sent  me.  And  the  glory  which  Thou 
hast  given  me,  I  have  given  to  them :  that  they  may  be  one, 
as  we  also  are  one."  l 


FATHERS. 


CENTURY    I. 

ST.  CLEMENT,  L.  C.  40.—"  Wherefore  are  there  contentions, 
and  swellings,  and  dissensions,  and  schisms,  and  war,  among*t 
you  ?  Have  we  not  one  God  and  one  Christ,  and  one  Spirit 
of  grace  poured  out  upon  us,  and  one  calling  in  Christ* 
Wherefore  do  we  rend  and  tear  in  pieces  the  members  of 
Christ,  and  raise  a  sedition  against  our  own  body,  and  come 
to  such  a  height  of  folly  as  to  forget  that  we  are  members 
one  of  another  (  Remember  the  words  of  our  own  Lord 
Jesus,  how  He  said,  Woe  to  that  man,  it  were  better  for  him 
had  he  never  been  born,  than  to  scandalize  one  of  my  elect: 
it  were  better  that  a  millstone  should  be  hanged  on  him,  and 
that  he  should  be  cast  into  the  sea,  than  that  he  should  scan 
dalize  one  of  my  little  ones.  Your  schism  hath  perverted 
many  ;  hath  cast  many  into  dejection  ;  many  into  doubt ;  and 
all  of  us  into  grief  ;  and  yet  your  sedition  continues. 

47.  "  Take  up  the  epistle  of  the  blessed  Paul  the  Apostle. 
What  did  he  first  write  to  you  at  the  beginning  of  the 

1  See  also  Ads,  ii.  42  ;  xx.  27-31.  Romans,  xii.  4,  5,  16;  xv.  5,  6;  xvi. 
16,  17.  1  Cor.  i.  10-13;  xii.  13-29.  2  Cor.  xiii.  11.  Galatians,  v.  19-21. 
Ephesians,  ii.  19-22;  iv.  3-6.  PJiilippians,  i.  27;  ii.  2;  iii.  16.  Colossians, 
iii.  15.  2  Tim.  ii.  2.  Titus,  iii.  9-11;  1  Peter,  iii.  8.  Jude,  17-19. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  121 

Gospel  ?  Yerily  he  did  by  the  spirit  admonish  you,  both 
concerning  himself,  and  Cephas  and  Apollos,  because  that 
even  then  ye  had  formed  partialities  amongst  yourselves  ; 
though  that  your  partiality  led  you  into  less  sin,  for  you  were 
partial  to  tried  Apostles,  and  to  another  who  had  been  ap 
proved  by  them.  But  now  consider  who  they  are  who  have 
led  you  astray,  and  have  lessened  the  majesty  of  your  much 
spoken  of  brotherly  love.  It  is  shameful,  my  beloved,  it  is 
most  shameful,  and  unworthy  of  your  Christian  profession, 
that  it  should  be  heard  that  the  most  firm,  and  the  ancient 
church  of  the  Corinthians,  on  account  of  one  or  two  persons, 
is  in  a  sedition  against  the  priests."  '  —  Ep.  i.  ad  Corinth,  n. 
46-47.  See  the  continuation  under  "Authority" 

CENTURY    II. 

2.  ST.  IGNATIUS,  G.  C.  —  "  It  is  fitting  that  you  should,  by 
all  means,  glorify  Jesus  Christ,  who  hath  glorified  you  ;  that 
by  a  uniform  obedience  ye  may  be  perfectly  joined  together 
in  the  same  mind  and  in  the  same  judgment,  and  may  all 
speak  the  same  about  the  same  thing,  and  that,  being  subject 
to  the  bishop  and  the  presbyters,  ye  may  be  sanctified  in  all 
things.  , 

o 

3.  "  I  exhort  you  that  you  would  all  concur  in  the  mind 
of  God  ;  for  Jesus  Christ,  our  inseparable  life,  is  the  mind 
of  the  Father  ;  like  as  the  bishops,  who  have  their  stations 
at  the  utmost  bounds  of  the  earth,  are  after  the  mind  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

4.  "  Wherefore  it  becomes  you  to  concur  in  the  mind  of 
your  bishops,  as,  also,  ye  do.     For  your  famous  presbytery, 
worthy  of  God,  is  knit  as  closely  to  the  bishop  as  strings  to 
the  harp. 

16.  "  Be  not  deceived,  my  brethren  :  those  that  corrupt 
families  shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God.  ...  If,  there 
fore,  they  who  do  these  things  according  to  the  flesh,  have 
suffered  death,  how  much  more  he  who,  by  bad  doctrine, 


At1  l 


rov$ 


122  UNITY 

corrupts  the  faith  of  God  for  which  Jesus  Christ  was  cruci 
fied  ?  Such  an  one  being  defiled  shall  depart  into  unquench 
able  fire,  and  likewise  he  that  hears  him." — Ep.  ad  Ephes. 

7.  "  As,  therefore,  our  Lord,  being  united  (with  the  Father), 
did  nothing  without  Him,  neither  by  Himself  nor  by  His 
Apostles,  so  neither  do  you  do  anything  apart  from  the 
bishops  and  the  presbyters.  Neither  attempt  ye  anything 
that  seems  good  to  your  own  judgment ;  but  let  there  be,  in 
the  same  place,  one  prayer,  one  supplication,  one  mind,  one 
hope,  in  love,  in  joy  undefiled.  There  is  one  Jesus  Christ, 
than  whom  nothing  is  better.  Wherefore  haste  ye  all  to 
gether,  as  unto  the  temple  of  God,  as  unto  one  altar,  as  unto 
one  Jesus  Christ,  who  proceeded  from  one  Father,  and  is  in 
one  and  to  one  returned." — Ad  Maynes. 

1.  "  Of  whose  fruit  are  we,  through  this  divinely  blessed 
Passion  ;  that  He  may,  by  His  resurrection,  raise  a  sign  for 
ever  for  His  holy  and  faithful  ones,  whether  among  Jews  or 
Gentiles,  in  one  body  of  His  Church." — Ep.  adSmyrnmos,  n.  1. 

3.  "  In  like  manner  let  all  men  give  heed  to  the  deacon,  as 
Jesus  Christ,  as  also  the  bishop  being  the  Son  of  the  Father, 
and  to  the  presbyters,  as  a  council  (Sanhedrim)  of  God,  and 
a  band  of   apostles.      Apart  from  these  it    is  not  called  a 
church  : l  on  which  points  I  am  persuaded  that  you  so  hold." 

4.  "  I  exhort  you,  therefore  (yet  not  I,  but  the  love  of  Jesus 
Christ),  to  use  only  the  Christian  nourishment,  and  to  abstain 
from  the  strange  herb,  which  is  heresy."   .  .  . 

7.  "  Guard  against  such  men  :  and  guarded  you  will  be  if 
you  are  not  puffed  up,  nor  separated  from  Jesus  Christ  our 
God,  and  from  the  bishop,  and  from  the  regulations  of  the 
Apostles.  He  that  is  within  the  altar  is  pure ;  that  is,  he 
who  does  aught  apart  from  the  bishop  and  presbytery,  and 
deacon,  he  is  not  clean  in  conscience." — Ep.  ad  Troll. 

2.  "  Do  ye,  then,  being  children  of  light  and  of  truth,  flee 
division  and  corrupt  doctrines  ;  but  where  the  shepherd  is, 
thither  follow  ye  as  sheep.     For  there  be  many  wolves  held 

1  XooplS  Tovrcov  kKK\rf6ia.  ov  xaA.eirai. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  123 

worthy  to  be  trusted,  who  take  captive  those  that  are  running 
a  godly  course  :  but  in  your  unity  they  shall  have  no  place. 

3.  "Abstain  from  the  evil  herbage  which  Jesus  Christ 
dresseth  not,  forasmuch  as  they  are  not  the  Father's  planting. 
"Not  that  I  have  found  a  division  among  you,  but  rather 
purity  from  defilement.  For  as  many  as  are  of  God  and 
of  Jesus  Christ,  these  are  with  the  bishop,  and  as  many  as 
shall  repent  and  turn  to  the  unity  of  the  Church,  these  also 
shall  be  of  God,  that  they  may  live  according  to  Jesus  Christ. 
Be  not  deceived,  my  brethren  ;  whosoever  followeth  one  that 
createth  schism,  he  inheriteth  not  the  kingdom  of  God.  Who 
soever  walketh  by  another  man's  opinion,1  he  assenteth  not 
to  the  Passion." 

8.  "  Wherefore  I  did  my  part  as  a  man  fitted  for  the  pre 
serving  of  unity.  For  where  is  division  and  wrath  God  dwell- 
eth  not.  The  Lord  forgiveth  all  who  repent,  if  their  minds 
be  turned  unto  God's  unity  and  the  council  of  the  bishop.  "- 
Ep.  ad  Philadelph.  For  many  similar  passages,  see  "  Au 
thority  of  the  Church" 

ST.  JUSTIN,  L.  C.2  —  Commenting  on  Ps.  xliv.  7,  he  says,  — 
"  And  these  words  also  proclaim  that  the  Word  of  God  (ad 
dresses  Himself)  to  those  that  believe  on  Him,  —  as  being  one 
soul,  and  one  synagogue,  and  one  Church,  —  as  to  a  daughter, 
to  the  Church,  that  is,  which  is  derived  from,  and  partakes  of, 
His  name  ;  for  we  are  all  called  Christians."  —  Dial,  cum  Try- 
phone,  p.  160,  n.  63,  Ed.  Ben.  Paris.  1742. 

"  And  the  words  —  spoken  as  it  were  in  the  name  of  many 
—we  have  announced  'before  Him  —  together  with  what  is 
added,  as  a  child  (Is.  liii.  1),  foreshow,  that  the  wicked,  having 
become  heedful  of  Him,  would  be  subject  to  His  command, 


Ei'nS  <5xi^orn  auoXovQEl,  fiadiXeiar  &eov  ov  K^povo^Bt  •  siriS  ev 
y  yvGofjLiQ  Tteptrtaret.    Si  quis  in  aliena  sententia  ambulat  (if  any 
walks  after  any  other  opinion). 

2  A  Platonic  philosopher  born  at  Sichem  (Naplousia)  in  Palestine,  about 
the  year  103  ;  he  became  a  convert  to  Christianity  in  133.  He  wrote  two 
Apologies  for  the  Christian  religion,  one  addressed  to  Antoninus,  the  other 
to  Marcus  Aurelius.  He  was  martyred  at  Rome  in  the  year  163,  or,  accord 
ing  to  others,  in  167.  The  Bened.  Ed.  Paris,  1742,  is  the  one  used. 


124  UNITY 

and  become  as  one  child.  Just  as,  also,  may  be  seen  in  the 
body  :  though  many  members  may  be  counted,  they  are  called, 
and  are,  one  body.  For  both  the  people  and  a  Church,  though 
they  consist  numerically  of  many  individuals,  are  called  and 
designated  by  one  name,  as  being  one  thing."  —  11.  p.  138,  n. 
42.  See  also  ibid.  n.  116. 

1.  ST.  IKEN^US,  G.  C.  —  "  The  Church,  though  spread  over 
the  whole  world,  to  the  earth's  boundaries,1  having  received, 
both  from  'the  Apostles  and  their  disciples,  the  faith  in  one 
God,  the  Father  Almighty  .  .  .  and  in  one  Christ  Jesus,  that 
Son  of  God  who  was  made  flesh  for  our  salvation,  and  in  the 
Holy  Spirit  .  .  .  having,  as  I  have  said,  received  that  preach 
ing  and  this  faith,  the  Church,  though  spread  over  the  whole 
world,  guards  (it)  sedulously,  as  though  dwelling  in  one  house  ;  8 
and  these  truths  she  uniformly  holds,  as  having  but  one  soul, 
and  one  and  the  same  heart  ;  and  these  she  proclaims  and 
teaches,  and  hands  down,  uniformly,  as  though  she  had  but 
one  moulh.  For  though,  throughout  the  world,  the  languages 
are  various,  still  the  force  of  the  tradition  is  one  and  the  same.* 
And  neither  do  the  churches  founded  in  Germany,  nor  those 
in  Spain,  in  Gaul,  in  the  east,  in  Egypt,  in  Africa,  nor  in  the 
regions  in  the  middle  of  the  earth,4  believe  or  deliver  a  differ 
ent  faith  ;  but  as  God's  handiwork,  the  sun,  is  one  and  the  same 
throughout  the  universe,  so  the  preaching  of  the  truth  shines 
everywhere,  and  enlightens  all  men  that  wish  to  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth.  Nor  does  he  who,  amongst  the  rulers 
in  the  churches,6  is  more  powerful  in  word,  deliver  a  differ 
ent  doctrine  from  the  above  (for  no  one  is  above  his  teacher)  ; 
nor  does  he  who  is  weak  in  speech  weaken  the  tradition.  For 
the  faith  being  one  and  the  same,8  neither  he  who  has  ability 


yap  kytK\.rj6ia,  Kainep  natf  oXijS  TTJ*,  otxov/Lievt?S  foot  Ttepd- 
yyfi  distiTrapnevrj. 

2  lQ$  sva  OIKOV  oinovtia. 

3  'Hdvva/uiS  rrjs  napadotieoos  jaia  nal  rj  avrrf. 

4  The  churches,  to  wit,  of  Jerusalem  and  Palestine. 
6  Tear  kv  ralS  knH\.r]6ia 

Mm?  yap  nal  TrjS  avrrj^ 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  125 

to  say  much  concerning  it,  hath  anything  over,  nor  he  who 
speaketh  little,  any  lack.".  .  . 

3.  "  The  whole  Church  has  one  and  the  same  faith  through 
out  the  whole  world,  as  we  have  explained  above" — Adv. 
Hceres.  I.  i.  c.  x.  n.  \-Z,pp.  48-50. 

1.  "  And  giving  to  the  disciples  the  power  of  regeneration 
unto  God,  He  said  to  them,  Going,  teach  all  nations,  'baptiz 
ing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Faftier^  and  of  the  Son,  and  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.".  .  . 

2.  "  This  spirit  David  prayed  for,  for  the  human  race,  say 
ing,  and  strengthen  me  with  Thy  sovereign  Spirit.     Who  also, 
Luke  saith,  descended,  after  the  Lord's  ascension,  upon  the 
disciples,  in  the  Pentecost,  with  power  over  all  nations  unto 
the  entrance  to  life,  and  the  opening  of  the  New  Testament : 
whence,  too,  uniting  together,  in   every  tongue  they  raised  a 
hymn  to  God,  the  Spirit  reducing  to  unity  the  distant  tribes,1 
and   offering    to   the  Father   the  first-fruits   of    all   nations. 
Whence,  also,  the  Lord  promised  that  He  would  send  a  Para 
clete,  who  might  unite  us  to  God.     For,  as  of  dry  wheat  one 
mass  cannot  be  formed  without  moisture,  nor  one  bread,  so 
neither   could  we,  being  many,  become  one  in  Christ2  Jesus, 
without   the  water  which  is  from  heaven.     And  as  the  arid 
earth,  if  it  receive  not  moisture,  brings  not  forth  fruit,  so  we 
also  being  originally  dry  wood,  should  not  bring  forth  fruit 
unto  life,  without  gratuitous  rain  from  above.     For  our  bodies 
through  the  laver,  but  our  souls  through  the  spirit,  received 
that  unity  which  is  unto  incorruption.     Whence  also  both  are 
necessary,2   since  both  avail  unto   the  life  of   God." — Adv. 
Hceres.  I.  iii.  c.  17,  n.  1,  2,j9.  208. 

"  We  have  exhibited  all  those  who  introduce  wicked  opinions 
concerning  our  Creator  and  Maker,  who  also  built  up  this  world, 
above  whom  there  is  no  other  god  ;  and  having,  by  manifest 
proofs,  overcome  those  who  teach  erroneously  respecting  the 
substance  of  our  Lord,  and  the  arrangement  which  He  made 

1  Spiritu  ad  unitatem  redigente  distantes  tribus. 

2  Nee  nos  multi  unurn  fieri  in  Christo.  3  Utraque  necessaria. 


1^6  UNITY 

for  the  sake  of  His  own  (creature)  man ;  but  the  public  teach 
ing  of  the  Church  (is)  everywhere  uniform,  and  equally  en 
during,1  and  testified  unto  by  prophets  and  by  Apostles,  and 
by  all  the  disciples,  as  we  have  demonstrated,  through  the  first 
and  intermediate  and  final  period,  and  through  the  whole  eco 
nomy  of  God,  and  that  accustomed  operation  relative  to  the 
salvation  of  man,  which  is  in  our  faith,  which,  having  received 
from  the  Church,  we  guard;2  and  which,  by  the  spirit  of 
God,  is  ever  in  youthful  freshness,  like  something  excellent 
deposited  in  a  beautiful  vase,  making  even  the  very  vase, 
wherein  it  is,  seem  newly  formed,  (fresh  with  youth).  For 
this  office  of  God  has  been  entrusted  to  the  Church,  as  though 
for  the  breathing  of  life  into  His  handiwork,  unto  the  end 
that  all  the  members  that  partake  (of  this  office)  may  be  vivi 
fied  ;  in  this  (office),  too,  is  disposed  the  communication  of 
Christ,  that  is,  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  pledge  of  incorruption, 
the  ladder  whereby  to  ascend  unto  God.3  For  in  the  Church, 
saitli  he,  God  hath  placed  Apostles,  prophets,  doctors,  and  every 
other  work  of  the  Spirit,  of  which  all  they  are  not  partakers 
who  do  not  hasten  to  the  Church,  but  by  their  evil  sentiment 
and  most  flagrant  conduct,  defraud  themselves  of  life.  For 
where  the  Church  is,  there  is  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  where  the 
Spirit  of  God  is,  there  is  the  Church  and  every  grace  :  but  the 
Spirit  is  truth.  Wherefore,  they  who  do  not  partake  of  that 
(Spirit),  are  neither  nourished  unto  life  from  a  mother's  breasts, 
nor  see  the  most  clear  spring  which  proceeds  from  Christ's 
body ;  but  dig  unto  themselves  broken  cisterns  out  of  earthy 
trenches,  and  out  of  the  filth  drink  foul  water,  fleeing  from 
the  faith  of  the  Church,  lest  they  be  brought  back  ;  but  reject 
ing  the  spirit  that  they  may  not  be  instructed. 

2.  "  But  being  alienated  from  the  truth,  they  deservedly  wal 
low  in  every  error,  tossed  about  by  it ;  at  intervals  thinking 

1  Prsedicationem  vero  ecclesiaa  undique  constantein.  et  sequaliter  per- 
severantem. 

*  Quain  (fidem)  perceptam  ab  ecclesia  custodiraus. 

3  Arrha  incorruptelae,  et  confirmatio  fidei  nostrae,  et  scala  ascensionls  ad 
Deuin. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  127 

first  one  thing  and  then  another  respecting  the  same  matters, 
and  never  having  a  settled  opinion ;  preferring  to  be  cavillers 
about  words,  rather  than  disciples  of  the  truth.  For  they  are 
not  based  upon  the  one  rock,  but  upon  sand,  which  contains 
within  it  many  stones,1  and,  on  this  account,  they  both  invent 
many  gods,  and  have  always,  as  an  excuse,  that  they  are  seek 
ing,  (for  they  are  blind)  but  they  never  can  find." — Ibid.  I.  iii. 
c.  24,7i.  1,  ^pp.  222,223. 

"  He  will  also  judge  those  who  cause  schisms ;  men  desti 
tute  of  the  love  of  God,  and  who  have  in  view  their  own 
interest,  but  not  the  oneness  of  the  Church ;  and  who,  on  ac 
count  of  slight  and  exaggerated  causes,  rend  and  divide,  and 
as  far  as  in  them  lies,  destroy  the  great  and  glorious  body  of 
Christ ;  men  who  have  peace  on  their  lips,  but  war  in  their  ac 
tions  ;  who  truly  strain  at  a  gnat,  but  swallow  a  camel.  But 
no  correction  can  be  effected  by  them  so  great  as  is  the  perni- 
ciousness  of  schism.3  But  He  will  also  judge  all  those  who 
are  out  of  the  truth,  that  is,  who  are  out  of  the  Church  :  but 
He  will  be  judged  by  none.  .  .  . 

8.  "  (This  is)  true  knowledge, — the  teaching  of  the  Apostles, 
and  the  long-established  (ancient)  system  of  the  Church 
throughout  the  whole  world ;  and  the  mark  of  Christ's  body 
according  to  the  successions  of  the  bishops,  to  whom  they  (the 
Apostles)  delivered  that  Church,  which  is  in  every  place ;  the 
most  perfect  treatment  of  the  Scriptures  which  has  come  down 
even  to  us  without  deception  in  the  guardianship,  admitting 
neither  addition  nor  diminution  ; 3  both  the  reading  unfalsified, 
and  the  exposition  according  to  (as  regards)  the  Scriptures 
legitimate  and  careful,  and  without  danger,  and  without  blas 
phemy."— 7foW.  1.  iv.  c.  33,  n.  7,  8,  p.  272.  See  also  t.  iii.  c. 
12,  n.  7,  p.  196 :  Lib.  iv.  c.  xxi.  n.  3,  col.  2,  p.  255.4 

1  Non  enim  sunt  fundati  super  unam  petram,  sed  super  arenam,  haben- 
tem  in  seipsa  lapides  multos. 

2  'Ovds/ina  de  rri\mavTri  dvrarai  rtpot  avrc&v  TtaropQaodtS  (reforma 
tion)  ysrstftiai,  rjXiKrj  rov  6xi^/n(xr6<9  tdnv  77  ftXaftrj. 

3  Qua?  pervenit  usque  ad  nos  custoditione  sine  fictione   scripturarum 
tractatio  plenissima,  neque  additamentum,  neque  ablationem  recipiens. 

4  About   the   time  of  St.  Irenseus   began   the   Quartodeciman  dispute. 


128  UNITY 

ST.  HEGESIPPUS,  G.  C.1 — u  And  the  church  of  Corinth,  he 
tells  us,"  says  Eusebius,  "  continued  in  the  right  teaching 
(word),  until  the  episcopacy  of  Primus ;  with  them  I  (Ilege- 
sippus)  lived  familiarly,  on  my  way  to  Rome ;  and  I  passed 
a  considerable  number  of  days  with  the  Corinthians,  during 
which  we  were  mutually  gladdened  by  the  right  teaching. 
Having  reached  Rome,  I  took  up  my  abode  with  Anicetus,  to 
whom  Eleutherus  was  deacon.  To  Anicetus  succeeded  Soter, 
and  to  him  Eleutherus.  But  in  each  succession  (of  bishops), 
and  in  each  city,  it  is  just  as  the  law  proclaims,  and  the  proph 
ets  and  the  Lord." 

[lie  then  notices  the  martyrdom  of  St.  James  the  Just,  and 
adds :]  u  They  called  the  Church  a  virgin,  for  it  had  not 
been  corrupted  by  hearkening  to  folly.  Thebutis,  because  he 
was  not  made  bishop,  was  the  lirst  to  begin  to  corrupt  it.  [lie 
proceeds  to  name  several  heretics  and  their  sects,  as  Simon, 
Menander,  Marcion,  Valentinus  ;  and  observes  :]  Each  of  these 
introduced  of  himself,  and  different  from  all  the  rest,  his 
private  opinion.2  From  these  sprang  false  Christs,  false 
Prophets,  false  Apostles,  who  severed  the  unity  of  the  Church 
with  counterfeit  teaching  against  God  and  His  Christ."- 
Gallandius  Bill.  PP.  t.  ii.  p.  04,  op.  Euseb.  II.  E.  I.  iv.  c.  22. 

CLEMENT  of  Alexandria,  G.  C. — u  The  way  of  truth  is 
one ;  but  other  streams  run  into  it  from  various  quarters,  as 
into  a  perennial  river." — Strom.  1.  i.  p.  331. 

"  There  is  in  truth  one  covenant  of  salvation,  extending 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world  to  our  time,  which,  accord- 

This  question, — which  regarded  the  time  of  celebrating  the  festival  of 
Easter,  and  which  was  finally  decided,  against  the  churches  of  Asia  Minor, 
by  the  Council  of  Nicaea, — proved  the  anxious  solicitude  of  the  Church  to 
maintain  unity  in  discipline  as  well  as  unity  in  faith.  To  depart  from  the 
Jewish  practice,  and  to  avoid  some  inconveniences  which  that  practice 
caused,  were  additional  motives  ;  but  uniformity  was  the  leading  object, 
and  it  was  obtained  by  the  decision  of  the  synod. 

1  A  Jewish  convert  to  Christianity.  His  journey  to  Rome,  named  in  the 
above  extract,  is  supposed  to  have  taken  place  about  the  year  157,  and  his 
death  about  the  year  184.  Of  his  works  nothing  remains  but  a  fragment, 
or  two,  preserved  by  Eusebius.  They  are  given  by  Gallandius,  t.  ii. 

3 "ExatfroS  fdioo^  nai  trepans  Idiav  doEav  napEi6rjyay£v. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  129 

ing  to  the  difference  of  generations  and  seasons,  is  supposed  to 
be  given  in  different  forms.  For  it  is  fitting  that  there  should 
be  one  unchangeable  gift  of  salvation,  proceeding  from  one 
Ood,  through  one  Lord,  conferring  its  benefits  in  different 
ways.  On  this  account  the  middle  wall  which  separated  the 
Greek  from  the  Jew  is  removed,  so  as  to  form  a  peculiar  peo 
ple  ;  and  thus  both  have  attained  to  the  unity  of  the  faith, 
and  there  is  one  election  from  both."  —  Strom.  I.  vi.  p.  793. 

(Speaking  of  the  origin  of  the  heretical  sects,  he  says  :) 
•"  From  what  has  been  said,  it  is,  I  think,  plain,  that  the  true 
€hurch  is  one,  that  which  is  truly  ancient,  in  which  are  enrolled 
.all  who  are  just  according  to  (God's)  purpose.  For  as  there  is 
>one  God,  and  one  Lord,  on  that  account  also  that  which  is  most 
highly  precious  is  praised  because  it  is  one,  being  an  imitation 
of  the  one  principle.  The  one  Church  then  is  associated  to  the 
nature  of  the  One  ;  which  Church  these  men  violently  attempt 
<to  divide  into  many  heresies.  In  substance,  in  sentiment,  in 
origin  (or  principle),  in  excellence,  we  say  that  the  ancient  and 
Catholic  Church  is  alone  ;  '  collecting  through  one  Lord  into 
the  unity  of  the  one  faith,  (modified)  according  to  the  peculiar 
covenants,  or  rather  to  the  one  covenant  at  different  times,  by 
the  will  of  one  God,  all  the  preordained  whom  God  predes 
tined,  having  known,  from  the  foundation  of  the  world,  that 
-they  would  be  just.  But  the  excellence  of  the  Church,  like 
.the  principle  of  everything  concrete,  is  in  unity,  surpassing 
all  other  things,  and  having  nothing  similar  or  equal  to  it- 
-self."  *—lUd.  L  vi.  p.  899. 

TERTULLIAN,  L.  C.  —  "  The  Apostles  having  obtained  the 
promised  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  for  miracles  and  utterance, 
iirst  having  throughout  Judaea  borne  witness  to  the  faith  in 
'Christ  Jesus,  and  established  churches,  next  went  forth  into 
the  world,  and  promulgated  the  same  doctrine  of  the  same 


1  Kara  rt  ovv  vitotiradiis,  Hard  rk  e-Jtivmavy  Hard  TS  d 
rrjr  dpxdiav  nal 

ditzp  rj  dpx?)  r^?  dvtfrdtfeooS,  Hard 
da  kGrlv,  Ttdvra  rd   a/lAa   v7tepfidXhov6  'a  ,  ycal 
rj  i6ov 


130  UNITY 

faith  to  the  nations,  and  forthwith  founded  churches  in  every 
city,  from  which  (churches)  the  other  churches  thenceforward 
borrowed  the  tradition  of  the  faith,1  and  the  seeds  of  doctrine, 
and  are  daily  borrowing  them  that  they  may  become  churches  : 
and  for  this  cause  they  are  themselves  also  accounted  apos 
tolical,  as  being  the  offspring  of  apostolical  churches.  The 
whole  kind  must  needs  be  classed  under  their  original. 
Wherefore  these  churches,  so  many  and  so  great,  are  but  that 
one  primitive  Church  from  the  Apostles,  whence  they  all 
sprang.  Thus  all  are  the  primitive,  and  all  apostolical,  whilst 
all  being  one,  prove  unity ;  whilst  there  is  between  them  com 
munication  of  peace,  and  the  title  of  brotherhood,  and  the 
token  of  hospitality,  which  rights  no  other  principle  directs 
than  the  unity  of  the  tradition  of  the  same  mystery  (sacra 
ment)." — DC  Prcescr.  n.  20.  for  the  continuation,  see  "Apos- 
tolieity." 

41.  uThe  heretics  will  have  the  overthrow  of  discipline  to 
be  simplicity ;  and  the  care  of  it  amongst  us  they  call  pander 
ing.     They  huddle  up  a  peace  also  with  all  everywhere.     For 
it  makes  no  matter  to  them,  although  they  hold  different  doc 
trines,  so  long  as  they  conspire  together  in  their  siege  against 
the  one  truth.     All  are  puffed  up ;    all  promise  knowledge. 
The  catechumens   are  perfect,  before  they  are  taught. 

42.  "  But  what  shall  I  say  concerning  the  ministry  of  the 
word  ;  seeing  that  their  business  is,  not  to  convert  the  heathens, 
but  to  subvert  our  people?     This  is  the  glory  which  they 
rather  catch  at,  if,  perchance,  they  may  work  the  fall  of  those 
who  stand,  not  the  raising  up  of  those  that  are  fallen ;  since 
their  very  work  comes  not  of  the  building  of  their  own,  but 
of  the  pulling  down  of  the  truth.     They  undermine  ours,  that 
they  may  build  their  own.     Take  from  them  the  law  of  Moses 
and  the  prophets,  and  God  the  Creator,  they  have  no  cause  to 
complain ;  so  it  comes  to  pass  that  they  more  easily  effect  the 
ruin   of  standing  buildings  than  the  building  up  of  fallen 
ruins.     In  these  works  alone  do  they  act  humbly,  and  smoothly,. 

1  Traducem  fidei. 


OF  THE  CHURCH. 

and  submissively  ;  but  they  know  no  reverence  even  towards 
their  own  chiefs.  And  this  is  why  there  are  commonly  no 
schisms  amongst  heretics  ;  because  when  there  are  any,  they 
appear  not ;  for  schism  is  their  very  unity.  I  speak  falsely, 
if  they  do  not  differ  among  themselves,  even  from  their  own 
rules,  seeing  that  each  forthwith  moulds,  according  to  his  own 
pleasure,1  the  things  which  he  hath  received,  even  as  he,  who 
delivered  them  to  him,  framed  them  according  to  his  own 
pleasure.  The  progress  of  the  matter  is  a  confession  of  (or, 
true  to)  its  nature,  and  of  the  manner  of  its  birth.  The  same 
thing  was  allowed  to  the  Valentinians  as  to  Valentinus,  the 
same  to  the  Marcionites  as  to  Marcion, — to  change  the  faith 
according  to  their  own  pleasure.  Finally,  all  heresies  are 
found,  when  thoroughly  examined,  differing  in  many  things 
from  their  own  founders.  Most  of  these  have  not  even 
churches  ;  without  a  mother,  without  a  see,  destitute  of  a  faith, 
outcasts,  homeless,  they  wander  to  and  fro."— De  Prescript. 
Ilccr.  pp.  217,  218. 

Speaking  of  the  agreement  between  the  eastern  and  western 
churches,  he  says :  "  We  cannot  reject  that  custom  which  we 
cannot  condemn,  not  being  alien,  as  not  pertaining  to  aliens  ; 
inasmuch  as  we  share  with  them  the  rights  of  peace,  and  the 
name  of  brotherhood.  We,  and  they,  have  one  faith,  one 
God,  the  same  Christ,  the  same  hope,  the  same  sacraments  of 
baptism.  To  say  all  at  once,  we  are  one  Church.  So,  then, 
whatever  is  of  ours,  is  ours ;  but  thou  dividest  the  body." 2— 
De  Virginilus  Velandis,  n.  2,  p.  173. 

CENTURY    III. 

ORIGEN,  G.  C.— "  We  say  that  the  divine  words  declare  the 
whole  Church  of  God  to  be  Christ's  body,  animated  by  the 
Son  of  God,  and  that  all  they  who  are  believers  are  members 
of  that  same  body,  as  of  a  whole :  since,  as  the  soul  gives  life 
to,  and  moves,  the  body,  which  is  not  born  so  as  to  have  vital 

1  Suo  arbitrio  (at  his  private  judgment). 

2  Semel  dixerira  una  ecclesia  sumus.      Ita  nostrum  est,  quodcunque  nos- 
trorum  est.     Ceterum,  dividis  corpus. 


132  UNITY 

motion  of  itself,  so  the  Word  moving  to  what  is  needful,  and 
acting  inwardly  on  the  whole  body,  the  Church,  moves  also 
each  member  of  those  who  pertain  to  the  Church,  in  such  wise 
that  they  do  no  one  thing  without  the  Word."  —  T.  1,  Contr. 
Cels.  I.  vi.  n.  48,  p.  670. 

"  If  thou  eatest  the  words  of  God  in  the  church,  and  eat- 
est  also  in  the  synagogue  of  the  Jews,  thou  transgressest  the 
commandment  which  says:  In  one  house  shall  it  be  eaten. 
(Exod.  xii.)  But  if  thou  partakest  of  the  words  of  God  in 
one  house,  the  church  ;  then,  having  left  it,  thou  undertakest 
to  partake  of  God  in  an  heretical  synagogue,  though  the  com 
mand  says  :  In  one  house  shall  it  be  eaten,  thou  doest  not 
•eat  in  one  house.  Wherefore  understand  by  one  house,  the 
church  ;  eat  not  therefore  by  any  means  of  the  Lamb  out  of 
the  church. 

"  Ami  ye  shall  not  carry  forth  from  the  house  of  the  flesh. 
(Ex.  xii.)  The  ecclesiastical  word  ought  not  to  be  heralded 
out  of  the  church,  as  neither  is  the  flesh  to  be  carried  out  of 
the  house  :  I  mean  into  the  synagogue  of  Jews,  or  heretics. 
For  it  is  like  to  casting  pearls  before  swine"  —  T.  ii.  Select,  in 
Exod.  p.  123.  For  a  similar  passage,  see  T.  ii.  Horn.  iv.  in 
Levit.  71.  8,  p.  203.  See  also  Ibid.  Horn.  vi.  n.  2,jy.  216. 

Explaining  Jos.  ii.  17,  18,  he  says:  "Whosoever  would 
be  saved,  let  him  come  into  this  house  of  her  who  once  was 
faithless.  Let  him  come  to  this  house,  in  which  the  blood  of 
Christ  is  the  sign  of  redemption.  Let  no  one  persuade,  let  no 
one  deceive  himself  ;  out  of  this  house,  that  is,  out  of  the 
Church,  no  one  is  saved.  For  should  any  one  go  out  of  it,  he 
becomes  guilty  of  his  own  death."  —  T.  ii.  Horn.  iii.  in  Lib. 
Jos.  n.  5,^>.  4:04:.  See  also  T.  ii.  Horn.  viii.  in  Lib.  Jos.  n.  6,  p. 


"  Let  us  go  into  walled  cities.  (Jerem.  iv.  5.)  The  word  of 
God  does  not  wish  us  to  go  into  a  city  without  a  wall,  but 
into  one  that  has  been  walled  round  :  The  Church  of  the  liv- 

1  Extra  ecclesiam  nemo  salvatur  ;  nam  si  quis  foras  exierit,  mortis  suse 
ipse  fit  reus. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  133 

ing  God   is  walled   round  by  the  truth  of  the  Word. 
Whosoever  should  be  found  not  to  have  hastened,  nor  gone 
into  the  walled  cities,  (that  is)  not  in  the  churches  of  God,  but 
standing  without ;  that  man  when  taken  by  the  enemy  will  be 
slain."— T.  iii.  Horn.  v.  in  Jerem.  n.  16,  p.  161. 

"  Christians  are  not  one  nation,  but  out  of  all  nations  one 
people ;  and  therefore  did  Moses,  as  the  highest  honor,  desig 
nate  them  as  not  a  nation  (Deut.  xxxii.  21) ;  but  if  the  ex 
pression  be  allowable,  a  nation  of  all  the  nations."— I7,  iv.  L 
viii.  in  Ep.  ad  Rom.  n.  Q,p.  628. 

ST.  CYPRIAN,  L.  C.— "  They  now  offer  peace,  who  them 
selves  have  it  not.  They  promise  to  restore  and  recall  the 
lapsed  into  the  Church,  who  have  themselves  receded  from 
the  Church.  God  is  one,  and  Christ  one,  and  the  Church  one, 
and  the  chair  one,  founded,  by  the  Lord's  word,  upon  a  rock.' 
Another  altar,  or  a  new  priesthood,  besides  the  one  altar  and 
the  one  priesthood,  cannot  be  set  up.2  Whosoever  gathereth 
elsewhere,  scattereth.  It  is  adulterous,  it  is  impious,  it  is  sac 
rilegious,  whatsoever,  by  human  frenzy,  is  instituted  so  as  to 
violate  a  divine  arrangement.  Far  from  the  contagion  of 
such  men  depart,  and  by  flying  shun  their  discourse  as  a  can 
cer  and  a  plague ;  according  to  God's  warning  word :  They 
are  blind  leaders  of  the  blind.  But  if  the  blind  lead  the 
blind,  both  shall  fall  into  the  pit  (St.  Matt,  xv.)  "— Ep.  xl. 
ad  Plebem.  de  Quinque  Presbyteris,  pp.  120,  121. 

"  And  as  if  there  were  to  be  no  end  to  their  frantic  auda 
city,  they  are  here  too  endeavoring  to  draw  the  members  of 
Christ  into  their  schismatical  party,  and  to  divide  and  mangle 
the  body  of  the  Catholic  Church.3  ...  To  whom  we  have 
given  this  answer  once  for  all,  nor  do  we  cease  requiring  that, 

1  Et  una  ecclesia,  et  cathedra  una  super  petram,  Domini  voce  fundata. 
So  the  Bened.   Ed.   following  the  ancient  manuscripts.      Pamelius  and 
others  read  super  Petrum. 

2  Aliud  altare  constitui,  aut  sacerdotium  novum  fieri,  prater  unumaltare 
et  unum  sacerdotium,  non  potest. 

3  In  schismatis  partes  Christr  membra  distrahere,  et  Catholics  ecclesise 
corpus  scindere  ac  laniare  nituntur. 


134  UNITY 

abandoning  their  pernicious  dissension  and  strife,  they  be 
aware  that  it  is  impiety  to  abandon  their  mother ; 1  and  may 
acknowledge  and  understand,  that  when  a  bishop  has  once 
been  made,  and  approved  by  the  testimony  and  judgment  of 
his  colleagues  and  of  the  people,  another  can  in  no  wise  be 
set  up." — Ep.  xli.  ad  Cornelium  de  Nbvatiano,p.  126. 

"  We  lately  sent  our  colleagues,  Caldonius  and  Fortunatus, 
that,  not  merely  by  the  persuasions  of  my  letters,  but  also  by 
their  own  presence,  and  your  unanimous  council,  they  might 
use  their  best  endeavors  and  strive  effectually  to  reduce  the 
members  of  the  divided  body  to  the  unity  of  the  Catholic 
Church,2  and  unite  them  with  the  bond  of  Christian  charity. 
But  since  the  obstinate  and  unbending  perverseness  of  the  op 
posite  party  has  not  merely  rejected  the  bosom  and  embrace 
of  (her  who  is)  the  mother  and  the  root,8  but  even  with  in 
creasing,  and  renewed,  and  more  fatal  discord,  that  party  has 
set  up  a  bishop  for  itself,  and,  contrary  to  the  mystery  of  the 
divine  appointment  and  of  Catholic  unity,  once  delivered,  has 
made  an  adulterous  and  opposed  head,  without  the  Church, — 
upon  the  receipt  of  your  letter  and  of  that  of  our  colleagues, 
as  also  upon  the  arrival  of  Pompeius  and  Stephanus,  men  of 
worth,  and  colleagues  most  dear  to  us,  by  whom  all  these 
transactions  have  been,  to  our  common  joy,  with  firmness 
maintained  and  approved,  according  as  the  holiness,  as  well 
as  the  truth,  of  divine  tradition  and  ecclesiastical  institution 
required,4  we  have  sent  this  letter  to  you.  .  .  .  This  is,  my 
brother,  and  ought  to  be,  our  special  study,  to  seek  to  secure, 
as  far  as  in  us  lies,  the  unity  delivered  by  the  Lord,  and 
through  the  Apostles  to  us  (their)  successors ; 5  and,  as  far  a& 

1  Impietatera  esse  sciant  matrem  deserere. 

2  Ut  ad  Catholicae  ecclesiae  unitatem  scissi  corporis  membra  componerent. 

3  Radicis  et  matris  sinum  atque  complexum  recusavit.     A  similar  ex 
pression  occurs  in  reference  to  the  Church  of  Rome  in  Ep.  45  ad  Cornel., 
radicem  et  matricem,  the  root  and  womb. 

4  Divinaa  traditionis  et  ecclesiasticae    institutionis  sanctitas  pariter  ac 
veritas  exigebat. 

6  Ut  unitatem  a  Domino,  et  per  Apostolos  nobis  successoribus  traditara. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  135 

we  are  able,  to  gather  into  the  Church  the  straying  and  wan 
dering  sheep  which  the  perverse  factiousness  and  heretical 
efforts  of  certain  persons  have  separated  from  the  mother, 
those  alone  remaining  without,  who  have  sunk  completely 
down  under  their  obstinacy  or  madness,  and  will  not  return  to 
us ;  men  who  will  have  to  give  an  account  to  God  of  the  rup 
ture  and  separation  caused  by  them,  and  of  their  abandon 
ment  of  the  Church."—^,  xlii.  ad  Cornelium.pp.  127,  128. 
u  It  grieves  and  pains  me  ...  to  learn  that,  contrary  to 
ecclesiastical  regulation,  contrary  to  the  evangelical  law,  con 
trary  to  the  unity  of  Catholic  institution,  you  have  consented 
that  another  bishop  (besides  Cornelius)  be  made ;  that  is, — a 
thing  which  it  is  neither  right  nor  lawful  to  do, — that  another 
church  be  established,  that  Christ's  members  be  torn  asunder, 
that  the  one  mind  and  body  of  the  Lord's  flock  be  rent  by 
divided  rivalry.  Wherefore,  I  beseech  you,  let  not  this  un 
lawful  division  of  our  brotherhood  be  persevered  in,  at  least 
by  you,  but,  mindful  of  your  confession  and  of  the  divine 
tradition,  return  to  the  mother  from  whom  you  have  gone 
forth,  from  whom,  and  to  whose  joy,  you  have  come  to  so 
glorious  a  confession.  Think  not  that  you  thus  maintain 
Christ's  Gospel,  as  long  as  you  separate  yourselves  from 
Clirist's  flock,  and  from  His  peace  and  concord ; '  whereas  it 
rather  beseems  good  and  gallant  soldiers  to  remain  within  their 
own  encampment,  and,  stationed  within,  to  do  and  give  heed 
to  those  things  which  are  to  be  performed  in  common.  For 
since  our  unanimity  and  concord  ought  not  on  any  account 
to  be  broken,2  and  we  cannot  leave  the  Church  and  go  forth 
from  it  to  come  over  to  you,  we  beg  and  entreat  of  you,  by 
every  motive  that  may  avail  with  you,  that  you  would  rather 
return  to  your  mother  the  Church,  and  to  our  brotherhood."— 
Ep.  xliv.  ad  Confessores  Romanes,  pp.  131,  132. 

"  And  to  give  you  their  very  words :  '  we,'  they  say,  <  ac- 

1  Nee  putetis  sic  vos  Evangelium  Christ!  asserere,  dum  vosmetipsos  a 
^hristi  grege,  et  ab  ejus  pace  et  concordia  separatis. 

2  Scindi  omnino  non  debeat. 


136  UNITY 

knowledge  Cornelius  bishop  of  the  most  holy  Catholic  Church, 
chosen  by  Almighty  God,1  and  by  Christ  our  Lord.  We  con 
fess  our  error  ;  we  have  suffered  from  imposture  ;  we  were 
circumvented  by  the  ensnaring  words  of  a  faction.  For 
though  we  appeared  to  hold  as  it  were  some  sort  of  com 
munion  with  a  schismatic  and  a  heretic,  yet  our  mind  was 
always  sincerely  in  the  Church.  For  we  are  not  ignorant  that 
God  is  one,  and  Christ  our  Lord  one,  Him  whom  we  have 
confessed  ;  one  Holy  Ghost ;  and  that  there  ought  to  be  one 
bishop  in  a  Catholic  Church.'  "  '— Ep.  xlvi.  Cornelii  ad  Cypr. 
p.  13f>. 

"  If  the  lapsed  be  harshly  and  cruelly  separated  from  the 
Church,  lie  may  betake  himself  to  the  ways  of  the  Gentiles, 
and  to  the  works  of  the  world ;  or,  if  rejected  by  the  Church, 
he  may  pass  over  to  the  heretics  or  schismatics,  where,  though 
he  should  afterwards  be  slain  for  the  name,  being  placed 
without  the  Church,  and  cut  off  from  unity  and  charity,  he 
could  not  be  crowned  in  death."  :  —  Ep.  Hi.  ad  Antonianum, 
p.  153.  For  other  extracts  from  this  epistle,  see  ^Authority  ;  " 
also,  Ep.  Ixvii.  given  under  the  same  head. 

"  Novatian,  after  the  manner  of  apes,  which,  though  not 
men,  yet  imitate  the  actions  of  men,  wishes  to  claim  to  him 
self  the  authority  and  truth  of  the  Catholic  Church,4  though 
lie  is  not  himself  in  the  Church,  yea,  is  moreover  a  rebel  to 
the  Church,  and  an  enemy.  For,  knowing  that  there  is  but 
one  baptism,  this  one  baptism  he  claims  to  himself,  to  be 
able  to  say  that  with  him  is  the  Church,  and  to  make  us  here- 

1  Nos,  inquiunt,  Cornelium  episcopum  sanctissimae  Catholica>  ecclesiae 
eleclum  a  Deo  .  .  .  scimus  may  be  translated,  "We  know  that  Cornelius 
has  been  chosen  the  bishop  of  the  most  holy  Catholic  Church."  As  the 
bishop  of  Rome  is  here  spoken  of,  Baronius,  and  others,  interpret  as  in  the 
note,  whilst  Baluzius,  and  others,  as  in  the  text. 

a  Unum  episcopum  in  Catholica  ecclesia  esse  debere. 

3  Ubi  etsi  occisus  propter  nomen  postmodum   fuerit,    extra  ecclesiam 
constitutes,  et  ab  unitate  atque  a  charitate  divisus,  coronari  in  morte  non 
poterit.     The  same  sentiment  occurs  frequently  in  St.  Cyprian,  Ep.  57  ad 
Cornel,  p.  206.  De  Orat.  Dom.  p.  423. 

4  Vult  ecclesise  Catholicas  auctoritatem  sibi  et  veritatem  vindicare. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  137 

tics.  But  we,  who  hold  the  head  and  root  of  the  one  Church,1 
know  for  certain  and  are  confident,  that  to  him  who  is  out 
of  the  Church  nothing  is  lawful,  and  that  baptism,  which  is 
one,  is  with  us,  amongst  whom  he  too  was  originally  baptized, 
when  he  held  fast  the  real  nature  and  truth  of  divine  unity."  a 
— Ep.  Ixxiii.  ad  Jubaianum,  p.  278. 

"  When  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  declared  in  the  Gospel  tha? 
they  who  were  not  with  Him  were  His  adversaries,  He  speci 
fied  not  any  particular  kind  of  heresy,  but  pointed  out  all 
whatsoever  that  were  not  with  Him,  and  that,  not  gathering 
with  Him,  scattered  His  nock,  as  being  His  adversaries,  say 
ing,  He  that  is  not  with  me  is  against  me,  and  he  that 
gathereth  not  with  me,  scattereth.  So,  neither  did  the  blessed 
Apostle  John  distinguish  any  one  heresy  or  schism,  nor  set 
down  any  in  particular,  as  separatists,  but  gave  to  all  who  had 
gone  out  of  the  Church,  and  who  acted  against  the  Church, 
the  name  of  Antichrists,3  saying,  You  have  heard  that  Anti 
christ  cometh  :  even  now  there  are  become  many  Antichrists, 
whereby  we  know  that  it  is  the  last  hour.  They  went  out 
from  us  /  but  they  were  not  of  us.  For  if  they  had  been  of 
us,  they  would  no  doubt  have  remained  with  us  (1  John,  ii. 
18,  19).  Whence  it  appears  that  all  are  adversaries  of  the 
Lord,  and  Antichrists,  who  are  clearly  known  to  have  with 
drawn  from  the  charity  and  unity  of  the  Catholic  Church. 
The  Lord  yet  further,  in  the  Gospel,  lays  it  down,  and  says, 
But  if  he  shall  also  contemn  the  Church,  let  him  be  to  thee 
as  a  heathen  and  a  publican  ;  but  if  they  who  contemn  the 
Church  are  accounted  heathens  and  publicans,  much  more 
assuredly  must  rebels  and  enemies  who  invent  false  altars,4 
and  illicit  priesthoods,  and  sacrilegious  sacrifices,  and  spurious 
names,  need  be  reckoned  amongst  heathens  and  publicans ; 
since  lesser  sinners,  and  men  who  are  simply  contemners  of  the 

1  EcclesiaB  unius  caput  et  radicem  tenemus. 

2  Divinae  unitatis  et  rationem  et  veritatem  tenebat. 

3  Universes  qui  de  ecclesia  exissent,  quique  contra  ecclesiam  facerent, 
Antichristos  appellavit. 

4  Falsa  altaria  fingentes. 


138  UNITY 

Church/  are,  by  the  Lord's  sentence,  adjudged  to  be  heathens 
and  publicans.  For  that  the  Church  is  one  the  Holy  Ghost 
declares,  in  the  Canticle  of  Canticles,  saying,  in  the  person  of 
Christ,  One  is  my  dove,  my  perfect  one,  she  is  the  only  one 
of  her  mother,  the  chosen  one  of  her  that  bore  her  (vi.) ;  of 
whom  He  also  saith,  in  another  place,  My  sister,  my  spouse, 
is  a  garden  enclosed,  a  fountain  sealed  up,  a  well  of  living 
water  (iv.)  But  if  the  Spouse  of  Christ,  which  is  the  Church, 
is  a  garden  enclosed,  a  thing  closed  cannot  lie  open  to  aliens 
and  the  profane  ;  and  if  it  is  a  fountain  sealed  up,  he  can 
neither  drink  thence,  nor  be  sealed,  who,  as  being  placed 
without,  has  no  access  to  the  fountain.  The  well,  also,  of 
living  water  if  it  is  one,  and  that  same  well  is  within,  he  who 
is  placed  ivithout,  cannot  be  vivified  and  sanctified  by  that 
water,  to  use  and  to  drink  of  which,  has  been  granted  to  those 
alone  who  are  within.  [He  proceeds  to  argue,  from  other 
passages  of  Scripture,  in  support  of  this  his  view,  and  con 
tinues] — For  the  Church  is  one,  one  which  cannot  be  both 
within  and  without.3  For  if  it  is  with  Novatian,  it  was  not 
with  Cornelius ;  whilst  if  it  was  with  Cornelius,  who  by  law 
ful  ordination  succeeded  the  bishop  Fabian,  Novatian  is  not 
in  the  Church,  nor  can  he  be  accounted  a  bishop,  who,  the 
evangelical  and  apostolical  tradition  despised,  succeeding  to 
no  one,  has  sprung  from  himself.8  For  he  who  has  not  been 
ordained  in  the  Church,  can  in  no  way  have,  or  hold  to,  a 
church.  For  that  the  Church  is  not  without,  nor  can  be 
separated  or  divided  against  itself,  but  that  it  preserves  the 
unity  of  an  inseparable  and  undivided  house,4  the  testimony 
of  divine  Scripture  manifests,  since  it  is  written  concerning 
the  sacrament  of  the  Passover,  and  of  the  lamb,  which  lamb 
denoted  Christ.  In  one  house  shall  it  be  eaten  /  ye  shall  not 
cast  forth  of  the  flesh  thereof  out  of  the  house  (JSxod.  xii.  46). 

1  Tantum  ecclesias  contemptores. 

2  Ecclesia  enim  una  est,  quae  una  et  intus  esse  et  foris  non  potest. 

3  Nemini  succedens,  a  se  ipso  ortus  est. 

4  Inseparabilis  atque  individual  doraus  unitatem  tenere. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  139 

The  same  likewise  we  see  written  respecting  Raab,  who  also 
bore  an  image  of  the  Church  ;  it  is  enjoined  and  said  to  her, 
Thy  father  and  thy  mother  and  thy  brethren  and  all  the 
household  of  thy  father  shalt  thou  gather  unto  thee  into  thine 
house,  and  whosoever  shall  go  out  of  the  door  of  thy  house, 
his  Hood  shall  be  upon  Ms  own  head  (Jos.  ii.  19,  20).  By 
which  mystery,  it  is  shown  that  they  who  would  live  and 
escape  the  general  destruction  of  the  world,  must  be  gathered 
together  into  one  only  house,  that  is,  into  the  Church ; '  but 
that  whosoever  of  those  so  gathered  together  shall  go  forth, 
that  is,  if  any  one,  although  having  obtained  grace  in  the 
Church,  shall  withdraw  and  go  forth  from  the  Church,  his 
blood  shall  be  upon  his  own  head,  he  must,  that  is,  impute  his 
destruction  to  himself.  Which  the  Apostle  Paul  explains, 
teaching  and  enjoining,  th#t  a  heretic  is  to  be  avoided,  as 
being  perverse  and  a  sinner,  and  condemned  of  himself  (Tit. 
iii.  10,  11).  For  that  man  shall  have  brought  destruction  on 
himself,  who,  not  cast  out  by  the  bishop,  but  a  deserter  of  the 
Church  of  his  own  accord,  (is)  condemned  of  himself  through 
heretical  presumption.  And  therefore  the  Lord,  indicating 
to  us  that  unity  cometh  from  divine  authority,  sets  down  this 
saying,  land  the  Father  are  one'  to  which  unity  reducing 
His  Church,  He  again  says,  And  there  shall  be  one  flock  and 
one  Shepherd.  But  if  \k&  flock  is  one,  how  can  he  who  is  not 
in  the  number  of  the  flock,  be  reckoned  in  the  flock  ?  Or 
how  can  he  be  accounted  a  shepherd,  who, — the  true  shep 
herd  remaining  by  successive  ordination  and  presiding  in  the 
Church  of  God, — succeeding  to  no  une,  and  beginning  from 
himself,  becomes  an  alien  and  profane,  the  enemy  of  the  peace 
of  the  Lord  and  of  divine  unity,  dwelling  not  in  the  house  of 
God,  that  is,  in  the  Church  of  God,2  in  which  only  men  of 
one  mind  and  heart  dwell,  according  as  the  Holy  Spirit  says 
in  the  Psalms,  God  that  maketh  men  of  one  mind  dwell  in  a 

1  In  unam  domum  solam,  id  est,  in  ecclesiara. 

2  Manente  vero  pastore,  et  in  ecclesia  Dei  ordinatione  succedanea  prae- 
sidente,  nemini  succedens,  et  a  seipso  incipiens,  alienus  fit  et  prophanus, 
.  .  .  non  habitans  in  domo  Dei,  id  est,  in  ecclesia  Dei. 


140  UNITY 

house  (Ps.  Ixvii.  7)  ?  In  fine,  even  the  very  sacrifices  of  the 
Lord  show  forth  Christian  unanimity,  knit  together  by  firm 
and  inseparable  charity.  For  when  the  Lord  calls  bread, 
which  is  formed  from  the  union  of  many  grains,  His  body, 
He  indicates  our  people,  whom  He  bore,  united  together; 
and  when  He  calls  wine,  which  is  expressed  out  of  many 
clusters  and  bunches  of  grapes,  and  is  incorporated  into  one, 
His  blood,  He  in  like  manner  signifies  our  flock  joined  to 
gether  by  the  admixture  of  a  united  multitude.  .  .  .  Lastly, 
how  inseparable  is  the  sacrament  of  unity,  and  how  they  are 
without  hope,  and  purchase  for  themselves  the  deepest  perdi 
tion  through  the  wrath  of  God,  who  make  a  schism,  and  for 
saking  their  bishop,  set  up  for  themselves  a  false  bishop  with 
out,1  is  by  divine  Scripture  declared  in  the  Book  of  Kings  (3 
Kings,  xi.  &c.)"—J?p.  Ixxvi.  ad  Magnum,  pp.  316-318. 

"  Heresies  and  schisms  are  his  (the  devil's)  inventions,  where 
with  to  subvert  faith,  to  corrupt  truth,  and  rend  unity.    Those 
whom  he  cannot  detain  in  the  blindness  of  the  old  way,  he 
circumvents  and  deceives  by  misleading  them  on  their  new 
journey.     He  snatches  men  from  out  the  Church  itself. 
This  is  the  result  as  long  as  men  have  not  recourse  to  the  source 
of  truth,  nor   seek    the   head,  nor   keep   the  doctrine  of  the 
heavenly  Father.     Which  whosoever  will  consider  and  exa 
mine,  for  him  there  is  no  need  of  a  lengthened  treatise  and 
much  argument.     Proof  is  ready  for  belief  in  a  short  state 
ment  of  the  truth.     The  Lord  says  unto  Peter :  /  say  unto 
thee,  saith  He,  that  thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  1  will 
luiU  my  Church,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  vanquish  it 
(vincent) ;  and  to  thee  I  will  give  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  and  ivhatsoever  thou  shalt  Und,  &c.  (St.  Matt.  xvi.  18, 
19).     And  again,  to  the  same,  after  His  resurrection,  He  says, 
Feed  my  sheep.     Upon  that  one  (man)  He  builds  His  Church,' 
and  to  him  He  assigns  His  sheep  to  be  fed.a     And  although 

1  Perditionem  sibi  maximam  de  indignatione  Dei  aequirent,  qui  schisma 
facmnt,  et  relicto  episcopo  alium  sibi  foris  pseudoepiscopum  constituunt. 

2  Super  ilium  unum  aedificat  ecclesiara  suam,  et  illi  pascendas  mandat 
oves  suas. 


OF  THE  CHURCH. 


to  all  the  Apostles,  after  His  resurrection,  He  gives  an  equal 
power,  and  says,  As  the  Father  sent  me,  I  also  send  you  :  re 
ceive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost  :  whosesoever  sins  ye  shall  remit,  they 
shall  le  remitted  unto  him  •  whosesoever  ye  shall  retain,  they 
shall  be  retained  (St.  John,  xx.  21)  ;  yet,  in  order  to  manifest 
unity,  He  lias,  by  His  own  authority,  so  placed  the  origin  of 
that  same  unity,  as  that  it  begins  from  one.1     Certainly  the  other 
Apostles  also  were  what  Peter  was,  endowed  with  an  equal  fel 
lowship  both  of  honor  and  power,  but  the  commencement  pro 
ceeds  from  unity,  and  the  primacy  is  given  to  Peter,  that  the 
Church  of  Christ  may  be  set  forth  as  one,  and  the  see  (chair) 
as  one.     And  they  are  all  shepherds,  yet  the  flock  is  shown  to 
be  one,  such  as  may  be  fed  by  all  the  Apostles  with  unanimous 
agreement,  that  the  Church  of  Christ  may  be  set  forth  as  one. 
Which  one  Church,  in  the  Canticle  of  Canticles,  the  Holy 
Spirit  designates,  in  the  person  of  Christ,  and  says,  My  dove, 
my  spotless  one,  is  hut  one  ;  she  is  the  only  one  of  her  mother, 
elect  of  her  that  lare  her  (Cant.  vi.  9).    He  who  holds  not  this 
unity  of  the  Church,  does  he  think  that  he  holds  the  faith  ? 
He  who  strives  against  and  resists  the  Church,—  he  who  aban 
dons  the  chair  of  Peter,  upon  whom  the  Church  was  founded,  _ 
does  he  feel  confident  that  he  is  in  the  Church  ?  a     Seeing  that 
the  blessed  Apostle  Paul  also  teaches  this  same  thing,  and 
shows  the  sacrament  of  unity  in  these  words,  One  body  and  one 
spirit,  one  hope  of  your  calling,  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  bap 
tism,  one  God  (Ephes.  iv.  4),  this  unity  should  we  hold  and 
vindicate  firmly,  especially  we  bishops,  who  preside  in  the 
Church  in  order  that  we  may  approve  the  episcopate  itself  one 
and  undivided.     Let  no  one  deceive  the  brotherhood  by  false 
hood,  no  one  corrupt  the  truth  of  faith  by  faithless  prevarica 
tion.     The  episcopate  is  one,  a  complete  part  of  which  is  held 
by  each  bishop.3     The  Church  too  is  one.  though  extended  far 

1  Ut  unitatem  manifestaret,  unitatis  ejusdem  originem  ab  uno  jncipien- 
tem  sua  auctoritate  disposuit. 

2  For  original,  &c.,  see  under  "  Primacy  of  St.  Peter." 

3  Episcopatus  unus  est,  cujus  a  singulis  in  solidum  pars  tenetur  :  "  It  is  a 
whole,  in  which  each  enjoys  full  possession."  —  Ox.  Tr.  p.  134. 


142  tJNITY 

and  wide,  and  is  further  multiplied  by  the  increase  of  her 
fruitf  ulness.  As  the  sun  has  rays  many,  yet  one  light ;  and  the 
tree  boughs  many,  yet  its  strength  is  one,  resting  on  the  firmly 
clinging  root ;  and  as,  when  many  streams  flow  down  from 
one  fountain-head,  though  a  multiplicity  of  waters  may  seem 
to  be  diffused  from  the  bountifulness  of  the  overflowing  abun 
dance,  yet  is  unity  preserved  in  the  common  source.  Part  a 
ray  of  the  sun  from  its  orb,  this  division  of  light  the  unity 
allows  not :  break  a  branch  from  the  tree,  once  broken  it  can 
bud  no  more :  cut  the  stream  from  its  source,  the  remnant  dries 
up.  Thus  the  Church,  flooded  with  the  light  of  the  Lord, 
puts  forth  her  rays  through  the  whole  world ;  yet  the  light  is 
one,  which  is  spread  over  every  place,  while  its  unity  of  body 
is  preserved.  In  the  luxuriance  of  her  plenty,  she  stretches 
her  branches  over  the  universal  earth,  and  spreads  out  far  and 
wide  her  bountiful  and  onward  streams.  Yet  is  there  one 
head  and  one  source,  and  one  mother  abundant  in  the  results 
of  her  fruitfulness.1  It  is  of  her  that  we  are  born  ;  with  her 
milk  are  we  nourished  ;  her  breath  is  our  life.  The  spouse  of 
Christ  cannot  become  adulterate,  she  is  undeflled  and  chaste. 
She  owns  but  one  home ;  with  spotless  purity  she  guards  the 
sanctity  of  one  chamber.  She  keeps  us  for  God ; '  she  appoints 
unto  a  kingdom  the  sons  that  she  has  borne.  Whosoever, 
having  separated  from  the  Church,  is  joined  to  an  adulteress,  he 
is  cut  off  from  the  promises  of  the  Church.  Neither  shall  he 
come  unto  the  rewards  of  Christ  who  leaves  the  Church  of 
Christ.  lie  is  an  alien,  he  is  profane,  he  is  an  enemy.  He 
can  no  longer  have  God  for  a  Father,  who  has  not  the  Church 
for  a  mother.  If  any  one  was  able  to  escape  who  was  without 
the  ark  of  Noah,  then  can  he  escape  who  is  out  of  doors 
beyond  the  Church.3  The  Lord  warns  and  says,  He  that  is 
not  with  me  is  against  me,  and  he  that  gathereth  not  with  me, 

1  Unum  tamen  caput  est,  et  origo  una,  et  una  mater  fecunditatis  succes- 
sibus  copiosa. 

2  Haec  nos  Deo  servat. 

3  Si  potuit  evadere  quisquam  qui  extra  arcam  Noe  fuit,  et  qui  extra  eccle- 
siam  foris  fuerit,  evadit. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  143 

scattereth.  He  who  breaks  the  peace  and  concord  of  Christ's 
Church,  does  so  against  Christ.  He  who  gathers  elsewhere 
than  in  the  Church,  scatters  the  Church  of  Christ.  The  Lord 
says,  /  and  the  Father  are  one ;  and  again,  of  Father,  and 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  it  is  written,  And  these  three  are  one. 
And  does  any  one  believe  that  this  unity,  thus  proceeding  from 
the  divine  immutability,1  and  cohering  in  heavenly  sacraments, 
can  be  rent  asunder  in  the  Church,  and  be  split  by  the  divorce 
of  antagonist  wills  ?  He  who  holds  not  this  unity,  holds  not 
the  law  of  God,  holds  not  the  faith  of  Father  and  Son,  'lolds 
not  life  and  salvation.2  [Having  shown  that,  by  the  seamless 
garment  of  Christ,  was  represented  the  unity  of  the  Church, 
he  says :]  Because  Christ's  people  cannot  be  rent,  His  tunic, 
woven  and  conjoined  throughout,  was  not  divided  by  those 
to  whom  it  fell.  Individual,  conjoined,  co-entwined,  it  shows 
the  coherent  concord  of  our  people  who  have  put  on  Christ. 
In  the  sacrament  and  sign  of  His  garment,  He  has  declared 
the  unity  of  the  Church.  Who  then  is  the  criminal  and  the 
traitor,  who  so  inflamed  with  the  madness  of  discord,  as  to 
think  aught  can  rend,  or  to  venture  on  rending,  God's  unity, 
the  garment  of  the  Lord,  the  Church  of  Christ?  He  himself 
warns  us  and  teaches  in  His  Gospel,  saying,  And  there  shall  he 
one  flock  and  one  shepherd.  And  does  any  one  think  that 
there  can  in  one  place  be  either  many  shepherds,  or  many 
flocks  ?  So,  too,  the  Apostle  Paul,  suggesting  the  same  unity, 
entreats  and  exhorts,  saying,  I  beseech  you,  brethren,  by  the 
name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  you  all  speak  the  very 
same  thing,  and  there  be  not  schisms  amongst  you.  But  be 
you  settled  in  the  same  mind,  and  in  the  same  judgment  (1 
Cor.  i.  10).  Thinkest  thou  that  any  can  live  and  stand  that 
withdraws  from  the  Church,  and  forms  for  himself  other  rest 
ing-places  and  other  homes  ? 3  [He  then  gives,  in  illustration 

1  Hanc  unitatem  de  divina  firmitate  venientem. 

2  Hanc  unitatem  qui  non  tenet,  Dei  legem  non  tenet,  non  tenet  Patris  et 
Filii  fidem,  vitam  et  salutem  non  tenet. 

3  Stare  tu  et  vivere  putas  posse  de  ecclesia  recedentem,  sedes  sibi  alias,  et 
diversa  domicilia  condentem  ? 


144  UNITY 

of  unity,  the  Passover,  and  thus  makes  the  application  ;]  The 
flesh  of  Christ  and  the  holy  of  the  Lord  cannot  be  sent  out  of 
doors,  and  there  is  no  other  dwelling-place  for  believers  besides 
the  one  Church.1  This  home,  this  hostelry  of  unanimity,  the 
Holy  Spirit  designates  and  proclaims  in  the  Psalms,  saying, 
God,  who  makes  men  of  one  mind  dwell  in  a  house  (Ps.  Ixvii. 
7).  In  the  house  of  God,  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  men  dwell 
together  of  one  mind,  in  concord  and  simplicity  persevering.2 
.  .  .  Neither  let  certain  persons  deceive  themselves  by  a  vain 
interpretation,  in  that  the  Lord  has  said,  Wtteresoever  two 
or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name,  1  am  with  them. 
Corrupters  of  the  Gospel,  and  false  interpreters,  they  lay  down 
what  follows,  and  omit  what  goes  before ;  giving  heed  to  part, 
while  part  they  deceitfully  suppress.  ...If,  saith  He,  two  of 
you  shall  agree  together  on  earth.  lie  places  agreement  first. 

.   Yet  how  can  he  be  at  agreement  with  other  who  is  at  dis- 

o 

agreement  with  the  body  of  the  Church  itself,  and  with  the 
universal  brotherhood  ?  How  can  two  or  three  be  gathered 
together  in  Christ' s  name,  who  are  manifestly  separated  from 
Christ  and  from  His  Gospel  ?  For  we  did  not  go  out  from 
them,  but  they  went  out  from  us.  And  as  heresies  and  schisms 
have  a  later  birth,  when  men  set  up  different  conventicles  for 
themselves,  they  have  left  the  (fountain)  head  and  origin  of 
truth.3  .  .  .  When  therefore  He  sets  it  forth  in  His  precepts, 
and  says,  Where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my 
name,  1  am  with  them,  He  who  instituted  and  made  the 
Church,  does  not  divide  men  from  the  Church,  but  rebuking 
the  faithless  with  their  discord,  and  by  His  voice  commending 
peace  to  the  faithful,  He  shows  that  He  is  rather  with  two  or 
three  who  pray  with  one  mind,  than  with  many  persons  who 
are  in  dissent,  and  that  more  can  be  obtained  by  the  concor 
dant  prayer  of  a  few,  than  from  the  discordant  prayer  of 

1  Nee  alia  ulla  credentibus,  prater  imam  ecclesiam,  domus  est. 

2  For  further  extracts,  nearly  in  continuation  of  the  above,  see  "Jn- 
def edibility." 

3  Dum  conventicula  sibi  diversa  coustituunt,  veritatis  caput  atque  ori- 
ginera  reliquerunt. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  145 

many.  .  .  .  What  peace  then  can  they  promise  themselves, 
who  are  foes  to  the  brethren  ?  what  sacrifices  do  they  believe 
they  celebrate,  who  are  rivals  of  the  priests?  Or  do  they 
think  that  Christ  is  with  them  when  gathered  together,  though 
gathered  out  of  Christ's  Church  ?  Such  men,  even  if  killed  for 
the  confession  of  His  name,  not  even  by  blood  is  this  stain  washed 
out.1  Inexpiable  and  heavy  is  the  guilt  of  discord,  nor  cleansed 
away  is  it  by  any  suffering.  He  cannot  be  a  martyr,  who  is  not 
in  the  Church.3  He  cannot  attain  to  the  kingdom,  who  leaves 
her  to  whom  the  kingdom  shall  be  given.  .  .  .  They  cannot 
dwell  with  God,  who  have  refused  to  be  of  one  mind  in  God's 
Church.  Though  they  be  given  over  to  be  burnt  in  fire  and 
flame,  or  lay  down  their  lives  by  being  a  prey  to  wild  beasts, 
theirs  will  not  be  the  crown  of  faith,  but  the  penalty  of  faith 
lessness  ;  not  the  glorious  issue  of  conscientious  courage,  but 
the  death  of  despair.  Such  a  man  may  be  killed,  crowned 
he  cannot  be.3  .  .  .  The  Lord  teaches  and  warns  us  that  we 
must  withdraw  from  such  men:  They  are  blind,  says  He, 
leaders  of  the  blind.  But  when  the  Wind  leads  the  blind, 
both  fall  into  the  pit.  That  man  is  to  be  avoided  and  fled 
from,  who  is  separated  from  the  Church.  Such  an  one  is 
perverted  and  sinneth,  and  is  condemned  of  himself.  Thinks 
he  that  he  is  with  Christ,  who  does  counter  to  the  priests  of 
Christ,  and  separates  himself  from  the  fellowship  of  His  clergy 
and  people  ? 4  That  man  bears  arms  against  the  Church  ;  he 
withstands  God's  appointment :  an  enemy  to  the  altar,  a  re 
bel  against  the  sacrifice  of  Christ ;  for  faithfulness,  faithless  ; 
for  religion,  sacrilegious ;  a  servant  without  obedience,  a  son 
without  piety,  a  brother  without  love;  setting  bishops  at 
naught,  and  abandoning  the  priests  of  God,  he  dares  to  build 
another  altar,  to  offer  up,  with  unlawful  accents,  another 
prayer,  to  profane  with  false  sacrifices  the  truth  of  the  do- 

1  Tales  etiamsi  occisi  .  .  .  macula  ista  nee  sanguine  abluitur. 

2  Esse  martyr  non  potest,  qui  in  ecclesia  non  est. 

3  Occidi  talis  potest,  coronari  non  potest. 

4  Qui  adversus  sacerdotes   Christi  facit,  qui  se  a  cleri   ejus  et   plebis 
societate  secernit  ? 


146  '  UNITY 

miiiical  victim ; '  without  knowing  that  he  who  strives  against 
the  ordinance  of  God,  is  punished  by  the  divine  censure,  for 
the  boldness  of  his  temerity.  .  .  .  This  crime  is  worse  than 
that  which  the  lapsed  appear  to  commit ;  who  at  least,  when 
placed  in  a  state  of  penitence  for  their  offence,  deprecate  God 
with  full  satisfactions.2  In  their  case,  the  Church  is  sought 
for  and  appealed  to ;  in  the  other,  the  Church  is  resisted : 
here  there  may  have  been  compulsion  in  guilt,  there  the  will 
is  involved.  The  lapsed  harms  only  himself;  but  one  who 
tries  to  raise  heresy  and  schism,  betrays  many  by  leading  them 
along  with  him.  Lastly,  the  lapsed,  if  lie  attain  unto  mar 
tyrdom,  may  receive  the  promises  of  the  kingdom  ;  the  other, 
if  he  be  killed  out  of  the  Church,  cannot  obtain  the  Church's 
rewards.3  .  .  .  Neither  let  any  one  wonder  that  some,  even 
from  among  the  confessors,  adventure  thus  far  ...  if,  desert 
ing  that  Church  in  which  he  had  become  a  confessor,  and 
rending  the  concord  of  unity,  he  have  changed  his  first  faith 
by  a  subsequent  faithlessness,  he  cannot  flatter  himself  on 
the  score  of  his  confession,  as  though  he  were  elected  to 
the  reward  of  glory,  since  the  desert  of  punishment  is  ren 
dered  greater  from  this  cause :  for  the  Lord  chose  Judas 
among  the  Apostles,  and  yet  Judas  afterwards  betrayed  the 
Lord.  Not  therefore,  however,  did  the  faith  and  firmness  of 
the  Apostles  fail,  because  the  traitor  Judas  fell  away  from 
their  fellowship.  .  .  .  There  is  one  God,  and  one  Christ,  and 
His  Church  is  one,  and  the  faith  one,  and  the  people  one, 
joined  into  the  solid  unity  of  (one)  body  by  the  glue  of  con 
cord.4  Unity  cannot  be  sundered,  nor  the  one  body  be  sepa 
rated  by  the  dissolution  of  its  structure  ; b  nor  be  torn  in  pieces 
by  the  rending  of  its  inward  vitals.  Whatsoever  is  parted  from 
the  womb  cannot  live  and  breathe  in  a  state  of  separation  ;  it 
loses  its  principle  of  health." — De  Unitate. 

1  Dominicae  hostiae  (the  Lord's  sacrifice)   veritatem  per  falsa  sacrificia 
prophanare. 

2  Deum  plenis  satisfactionibus  deprecantur.  3  Ecelesia?  praemia. 

4  Plebs  ima  in  solidam  corporis  unitatem  concordiae  glutino  copulata. 
6  Scindi  unitas  non  potest,  nee  corpus  unum  discidio  compaginis  separari. 


OF  THE   CHURCH.  147 

ANONYMOUS,  L.  C.1— "  The  will  of  schismatics  is  not  in  the 
law ;  which  law  points  out  to  us  the  Church  as  one  and  indi 
vidual,  in  that  ark,  to  wit,  which  by  the  providence  of  God  was 
built  under  Noah  before  the  deluge ;  in  which  ark,  we  find  en 
closed—that  I  may  give  you,  JSTovatian,  an  answer  at  once— not 
only  the  clean,  but  also  the  unclean  animals.  That  ark  alone, 
with  those  in  it,  was  free  (from  the  deluge).  .  .  .  Whom  will 
Christ  the  Lord  above  all  others  deny,  but  all  you  heretics  and 
schismatics,  and  aliens  to  His  name  ?  For  you  who  were  once 
Christians,  but  now  Novatians,  and  no  longer  Christians,  have 
changed,  by  the  name  whereby  you  are  called,  your  first  faith 
by  subsequent  faithlessness."— Anonymi  Tract,  ad  Novat.  de 
Lapsis  ;  Gattand.  t.  in.  pp.  371,  373. 

ST.  DIONYSIUS  OF  ALEXANDRIA,  G.  C.2— « If,  as  thou  sayest, 
(Novatian),  thou  hast  come  to  this  pass  against  thy  will,  thou 
wilt  prove  this  if  thou  returnest  of  thine  own  will.  For' it  be 
hooved  thee  to  suffer  anything  whatever,  in  order  not  to  divide 
the  Church  of  God ;  and  martyrdom  suffered  on  account  of 
not  sacrificing  to  idols  were  not  more  glorious  than  martyr 
dom  endured  in  order  not  to  cause  a  schism  ;  yea,  in  my  opin 
ion,  the  latter  is  more  glorious ;  for  in  one  case  martyrdom  is 
endured  for  the  sake  of  one's  own  soul,  but,  in  the  other,  for 
the  sake  of  the  universal  Church.  But  if  thou,  even  now, 
persuade  or  compel  thy  brethren  to  return  to  unity,  thy  good 
deed  will  be  greater  than  thy  fault ;  and  this  will  not  be  set 
against  thee,  and  that  praised.  But  if  thou  canst  not  gain 
over  the  obstinate,  save  thine  own  soul."— Ep.  ad  Novati 
pp.  122,  130. 

'  Know,  brother,  that  all  the  eastern  churches,  and  those  be 
yond,  which  were  previously  in  schism,  are  now  united ;  and 

1  The  year  255  is  the  date  assigned  to  this  treatise  by  Gallandius,  whom 
see  for  further  particulars  concerning  it,  t.  iii.  Prcef.  pp.  xxxiv.,  xxxv      It  is 
also  given  m  the  Appendix  to  the  Bened.  Edition  of  St.  Cyprian. 

2  Catechist  of  the  church  of  Alexandria,  in  which  see  he  succeeded  Hera- 
clas  m  the  year  247.     Of  his  numerous  works  but  a  few  fragments  remain 
The  best  edition  is  that  published  at  Rome  in  1796:  it  is  the  one  here  fol- 
lowed. 


148  UNITY 

that  all  those  who  are  set  over  (the  churches)  are  everywhere 
of  one  mind,  rejoicing  beyond  measure  at  the  peace  which, 
beyond  all  expectation,  has  taken  place.  [He  then  names  sev 
eral  bishops,  and  concludes :]  And  to  speak  briefly,  all,  giv 
ing  glory  to  God,  are  everywhere  filled  with  joy  at  this  una 
nimity  and  love  amongst  the  brotherhood." — Ep.  ad  Steph. 
Papam^pp.  150,  153. 

MALCIIION,  G.  C.1 — "  Firmilian  twice,  on  coming  to  Anti- 
och,  repudiated  the  novelties  introduced  by  Paul  of  Samosata, 
as  we  who  were  present  know  and  testify,  and  as  many  others 
are  equally  certified  of.  .  .  .  But  since  Paul,  having  seceded 
from  the  rule  (of  faith),  has  passed  to  adulterate  and  spurious 
teachings,  there  is  no  need  to  judge  the  acts  of  one  who  is 
without  (the  Church)/'  *—Epist.  ex  persona  Synod.  Antioch. 
pp.  55S,  559,  Galland.  t.  iii. 

ST.  VicToRiNi-s,  L.  C.3— Explaining  Apocalypse  i.  4,  he  says : 
"  In  these  seven  churches  are  the  faithful  of  the  one  Catholic 
Church,  because,  by  the  nature  of  faith  and  election,  there  is 
one  in  seven." — Scholia  in  Apoc.  Gcdland.  t.  iv.  p.  53. 

CENTURY    IV. 

LACTANTIUS,  G.  C. — See  the  extract  given  under  the  head 
"Authority" pp.  43-il. 

ST.  ALEXANDER  OF  ALEXANDRIA,  G.  C.— "  As  the  body  of 
the  Church  is  one,  and  as  it  is  a  precept  of  the  divine  writ 
ings  to  keep  the  bond  of  unanimity  and  of  peace,  it  is  in  ac 
cordance  with  this  that  we  should  write  and  make  known  to 
each  other  what  has  been  done  by  each  ;  in  order  that  whether 
one  member  suffer,  or  rejoice,  we  may  mutually  suffer  or  re- 

1  A  priest  of  the  church  of  Antioch,  of  whose  writings  nothing  remains 
but  a  letter  describing  the  evil  conduct  of  Paul  of  Samosata.  It  is  in  Oal- 
landius,  t.  iii. 

9  Ovdkv  del  TOV  £%&  OVTO*,  rd$  7rpd&i$  npivf.iv. 

3  Victorinus,  an  Hungarian,  bishop  and  martyr,  named  both  by  St. 
Jerome,  Prm.  Comm.  in  Matt.,  and  by  St.  Optatus,  De  Schism.  Donat.  I.  i. 
c  9.  Of  his  numerous  writings,  all,  except  two  brief  treatises,  have  perished. 
The  edition  followed  is  Galland.  t.  iv. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  149 

joice  with  each  other." — De  Arian.  Hceres.  n.  i.  t.  iv.  Gal- 
la?^,  p.  451. ' 

COUNCIL  OF  NKLEA,  G.  C. — Speaking  of  those  ordained  by 
Meletius,  the  synodal  epistle  says,  <<  They  shall  have  no  au 
thority  to  designate  those  persons  that  please  them,  or  to  pro 
pose  their  names,  or  to  do  anything  at  all  apart  from  the  opi 
nion  of  those  bishops  of  the  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church  who 
are  living  under  Alexander ;  but  the  authority  both  to  de 
signate  and  nominate  those  worthy  of  the  clerical  office,  and 
in  fine,  to  do  all  things  agreeably  to  the  law  and  custom  of 
tne  Church,  shall  be  theirs  who  by  the  grace  of  God,  and  your 
prayers,  have  been  found  in  no  schism,  but  who  are  spotless 
in  the  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church." — Epist.  Synod,  pp. 
249,  251,  t.  ii.  Labi. 

EUSEBIUS,  G.  C. — Speaking  of  the  martyrs  of  Lyons,  he  says : 
"  Having  ever  loved  peace,  and  ever  recommended  peace,  they 
went  to  God  with  peace  ;  leaving  behind  them,  not  grief  to  the 
mother,  not  faction  and  war  to  the  brethren,  but  joy  and 
peace,  and  oneness  of  mind  and  love." — II.  E.  I.  v.  c.  2. 

"  The  twelve  Apostles  are  one ;  and  the  seventy,  and  the 
five  hundred,  one ;  and  think  not  that  I  am  reducing  what  is 
divine  to  the  level  of  what  is  human  :  I  am  but  using  com 
parisons  which  will  meet  with  indulgence  amongst  brethren, 
and  let  God  remain  as  He  is.  Yet,  should  we  say,  even  as  the 

1  In  the  speech  of  Constantino  to  the  Fathers  assembled  at  the  Council 
of  Nicaea,  we  read  :  "  This  was  the  end  of  all  my  prayers,  to  be  blessed 
with  this  your  reunion;  and  having  obtained  this  sight,  I  acknowledge  my 
thankfulness  to  the  Universal  King,  that  in  addition  to  all  his  other  favors, 
He  has  granted  me  to  behold  this,  which  is  above  every  other  good, — I 
mean,  to  have  you  all  here  assembled,  and  to  see  the  unanimous  uniformity 
of  sentiment  of  all,  .  .  .  since  the  intestine  divisions  of  the  Church  are 
accounted  by  me  more  grievous  and  dangerous  than  any  war  or  battle."— 
Euseb.  H.  E.  I.  iii.  c.  12.  In  the  same  emperor's  letter  to  the  bishops  who 
were  not  present  at  that  council  we  find  similar  language  :  "I  resolved 
that  this  should  be  my  object  above  every  other,  that  there  should  be, 
amongst  the  blessed  people  of  the  Catholic  Church,  one  faith  and  sincere 
love,  and  uniformity  of  worship  towards  Almighty  God."— Ibid.  c.  17. 
"The  Saviour  wished  the  Catholic  Church  to  be  one,  the  members  of  which, 
although  they  be  very  much  dispersed  into  many  and  different  places,  yet 
are  they  animated  by  one  spirit,  that  is,  by  the  will  of  God."— Ibid.  c.  18. 


150  UNITY 

entire  Church,  which  is  everywhere,  is  one  body,1  let  no  one 
blame  me,  for  God  lies  not,  who  has  said,  /  in  them,  and  ihou 
in  me  (St.  John  xvii.)  " — Lib.  ii.  de  Fide  contra  SabeU.  Gal- 
land,  t.  iv.  p.  476. 

"  Do  not  separate  from  the  Church.  If  I  am  mad,  what  is 
that  to  thee  ?  If  I  utter  things  that  are  alien,  judge  me,  and  lose 
me  not.  Seek  not  an  opportunity  for  schisms.  A  sheep  which 
is  without  the  Church  is  the  wolf '  s  share.'  For,  be  thou  even 
a  sheep  of  greater  strength,  it  is  more  expedient  for  thee  to  be 
within  than  without  the  walls  of  the  fold.  Thou  are  strong, 
bear  with  my  weakness  :  thou  art  infirm,  accept  a  cure  from 
the  common  Church.  One  drop  does  not  make  a  torrent : 
even  though  it  fall,  it  is  absorbed  by  the  earth — yea,  even  before 
it  reach  it :  but  drop  upon  drop  overturns  mountains.  One  reed 
is  easily  broken,  but  many  are  stronger  than  iron.  The  eye  by 
itself  is  not  an  eye.  ...  It  is  the  blending  of  the  members  to 
gether  that  makes  a  whole  that  is  excellent.  For  wert  thou  an 
eye,  taken  from  the  body,  thou  wert  blind,  or  rather  dead.  Let 
us  come  together  in  the  Church  under  a  mother's  wings,  in  the 
Church  where  the  adornments  are  those  of  a  bride,  and  the  mem 
bers  are  Christ's,  not  for  the  purpose  of  schisms  or  of  heresies. 
.  .  .  This  house  is  not  mine  nor  thine.  Why  withdraw  on  my 
account  from  the  Lord's  house  ?  And  first  of  all,  why  assume 
to  ourselves  that  we  are  wiser  than  the  rest  ?  Next,  why  give 
the  devil  what  he  so  much  wishes  ?  If  I  am  weak,  thou  that 
art  strong,  by  not  withdrawing,  confirm  the  Church.  If  I  utter 
things  that  are  alien,  why  doest  thou,  who  speakest  what  is 
right,  withdraw  thyself,  in  order  that  my  words  may  seem  to 
be  deprived  of  force  ?  .  .  .  Brethren,  let  us  not  make  conventi 
cles  nor  caves.  For  the  Apostles  perhaps  founded  these  things : 
I  do  not  mean  the  stones  of  the  buildings,  but  the  matters  treated 
of.  Thou  goest  forth  from  the  Church,  and  abandonest  thy 
mother  for  me.  But  what  am  I,  or  what  is  Paul,  or  Apol- 
los?"— Lib.  ii.  de  Fide  Adv.  Salell.;  Galland.  t.  iv.p.  478. 

1  Quemadmodum  omnis  ecclesia  qua?  ubique  est,  unum  corpus  est. 

2  Ovis  quae  extra  ecclesiam  est,  pars  lupi  est. 


OF  THE  CHURCH. 

ST.  HILAKY,  L.  C. — "  Moses  and  Solomon  established  a  taber 
nacle  ;  and  then  the  Apostles  set  up  many  tabernacles,  and  in 
every  part  of  the  earth  that  can  be  penetrated  to — yea,  even  in 
the  islands  of  the  ocean  did  they  prepare  unto   God  many 
dwelling-places.     To  the  glory  of  these  the  Holy  Spirit  testi 
fies  :  How  lovely  are  Thy  tabernacles,  0  God  of  hosts  ;  my 
soul  longeth  and  fainteth  for  the  courts  of  the  Lord  (Ps. 
Ixxxiii.  23).     Not  therefore  one  tabernacle,  whether  that  of 
leaves  by  Moses,  or  that  desired  by  David,  or  that  adorned  by 
Solomon  with  every  human  labor,  does  the  prophet  seek  after, 
but  many— yea,  countless  tabernacles ;  because,  though  in  the 
universe  there  be  but  one  Church,  yet  has  every  city  its  own 
church  ;    and  though  there  be  many  churches,  there  is  one 
Church  in  them  all,  because  there  is  one  in  many.1     For  those, 
therefore,  who  are  ascending  to  heavenly  things,  it  is  the  first 
and  greatest  step  to  dwell  in  this  tabernacle,  and  there,  day  and 
night,  to  pass  the  whole  period  of  this  life,   aloof  from  the 
cares  of  the  world,  and  relinquishing  the  affairs  of  it ;  like  unto 
many  saints  who  have  never  left  the  tabernacle,  as  is  written 
of  Josue,  who  whilst  a  youth  went  not  forth  from  the  taber 
nacle,  and  Anna  the  prophetess  departed  not  from  the  temple, 
~by  fasting  and  prayers  serving  night  and  day  (St.  Luke  ii.  3). 
After  this  there  will  be  rest  in  the  mountain  of  the  Lord  ;  for 
they  that  go  forth  from  the  tabernacle  journey  thitherward, 
and  there  is  no  road  thither  except  through  this  dwelling."  2— 
Tract,  in  Ps.  xiv.  n.  3,  4,  t.  i.  pp.   70,   71.     See  also  ibid. 
Tract,  in  Ps.  Ixvii.  n.  16,  pp.  224,  225.     Also,  ibid.   Tract, 
in  Ps.  cxviii.    (Littera  xiv.    Nun.}   n.   4,  p.  362.     Having 
quoted  1  Trni.  i.  20,  he  says :  "  For  they  who  are  cast  forth 
from  the  body  of  the  Church,  which  is  the  body  of  Christ,  are 
delivered  over  to  be  ruled  by  the  devil,  as  strangers  and  aliens 

1  Etsi  in  orbe  ecclesia  una  sit,  tamen  unaquaeque  urbs  ecclesiam  suam 
obtinet,  et  una  in  omnibus  est,  cum  tamen  plures  sint,  quia  una  habetur  in 
pluribus. 

2  Non  nisi  per  hanc  habitationem  iter  ullum  est.     In  the  Proleg.  to  this 
piece,  the  Bened.  Ed.  express  some  doubt  of  its  authenticity,  though  they 
are,  upon  the  whole,  of  opinion  that  it  is  St.  Hilary's. 


152  UNITY 

from  the  body  of  God.'' — Tract,  in  Ps.  cxviii.  (Littera  xvi.), 
n.  5,  t.  i.  p.  379. 

"  But  since  the  body  of  the  Church  is  one,  not  a  body  made 
up  by  a  kind  of  confused  mixture  of  bodies,  nor  by  each  of 
them  being  gathered  together  into  an  undistinguishable  heap 
and  shapeless  mass,  but  through  unity  of  faith,  through  the 
brotherhood  of  charity,  through  the  concord  of  deeds  and  wills, 
through  the  gift  of  that  sacrament  which  is  one  in  all  (of  us), 
are  we  all  one  body,  to  which  Paul  exhorts  us,  saying,  I  beseech, 
you,  'brethren,  that  ye  'be  all  of  one  mind,  exercising  the  same 
charity.  And  when  it  shall  be  according  to  what  is  written, 
And  tlie  multitude  of  believers  had  but  one  heart  and  one 
soul  (Acts  iv.  32),  then  shall  we  be  the  city  of  God,  then  the 
holy  Jerusalem,  because  Jerusalem  is  built  as  a  city,  whose 
participation  is  of  the  self-same  thing  (Ps.  cxxi.  3).  But 
dissenters  from  the  assembly  of  the  saints,  and  they  who,  urged 
on  by  their  sins,  separate  themselves  from  the  body  of  the 
Church,  have  no  participation  in  this  holy  house,  because  the 
participation  of  this  city  i#  of  the  self -same  thing.  For 
they  who  are  of  one  mind  from  the  fellowship  of  a  perfect 
city,  cannot  have  participation  in  what  is  different,  but  in  what 
is  the  same.  Wherefore  all  who  are  one  (body),  will  be  in 
that  (city),  as  the  psalm  testifies,  for  it  says,  For  thither  did 
the  tribes,  the  tribes  go  up — not  one  tribe,  but  many/' — lbi<i. 
Tract,  in  Ps.  cxxi.  n.  5,  p.  43-i.  See  also  a  passage  to  the 
same  effect,  Tract,  in  Ps.  cxxxi.  n.  14,  pp.  508,  509 ;  and  in 
Ps.  Ixxxii.  n.  2,  3,  pp.  518,  519. 

"  Great  is  the  power  of  truth,  which,  though  it  is  capable 
of  being  understood  by  its  own  merits,  yet  does  it  shine  forth 
by  the  very  opposition  raised  against  it ;  so  that,  whilst  remain 
ing  in  its  nature  immovable,  when  attacked  it  daily  adds  to 
the  firmness  of  its  nature.  For  this  is  the  peculiarity  of  the 
Church,  that  when  it  is  wounded  it  then  conquers ;  when  ac 
cused  it  is  then  understood ;  when  abandoned  it  then  gains. 
She  could  wish  indeed  all  men  to  abide  with  her,  and  in  her, 
and  (wishes)  not  to  cast  off  some,  or  to  drop  others,  from  her 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  153 

most  tranquil  bosom,  when  they  become  unworthy  of  the 
dwelling-place  of  so  excellent  a  mother  ;  but,  whether  heretics 
leave  her,  or  are  cast  from  her,  as  much  as  she  loses  in  the 
way  of  opportunity  of  bestowing  salvation  from  her  bounty, 
so  much  does  she  gain  in  the  way  of  faith  that  blessedness  is 
to  be  sought  from  her.  For  the  means  of  knowing  this  are 
at  hand  from  the  very  devices  of  the  heretics.  For  whereas 
the  Church,  instituted  by  the  Lord,  and  settled  by  the  Apos 
tles,  is  one  for  all  men,1  from  which  the  frantic  error  of  divers 
impieties  has  severed  itself ;  and  it  is  undeniable  that  differ 
ence  of  faith  has  arisen  from  the  evil  of  a  bad  comprehension 
(incorrect  interpretation),  seeing  that  what  is  read  is  made  to 
tally  rather  with  their  sentiments,  than  their  sentiments  made 
to  obey  what  is  read;  yet,  seeing  that  all  these  parties  are 
mutually  opposed  to  each  other,3  she  may  be  known  not  only 
by  her  own  doctrines,  but  by  those  of  her  adversaries  ;  even  so 
as,  while  all  are  adverse  to  her,  to  confute  the  impious  erro- 
neousness  of  them  all,  by  the  fact  of  being  alone  and  one.  All 
heretics,  then,  advance  against  the  Church  ;  but  whilst  all 
heretics  mutually  overthrow  each  other,  their  victory  brings 
them  nothing  for  themselves.  For  their  victory  over  each 
other  is  the  Church's  triumph  over  all  (or,  out  of  all),3  since 
heresy  combats  in  some  other  heresy  just  so  far  as  that  which 
the  faith  of  the  Church  condemns  in  that  other  heresy ;  for 
there  is  nothing  that  is  common  to  (all  the  heretics) ;  and,  in 
the  midst  of  all  this,  they  assert  our  faith,  while  opposing  one 
another."  4  [He  then  proceeds  to  exemplify  this,  in  a  singu 
larly  acute  manner,  from  the  heresies  of  the  day,  from  n.  5-8.] 
— De  Trinitate,  1.  vii.  n.  4,  t.  ii.  pp.  177,  178.  See  also  Ibid. 
I.  viii.  n.  7,  p.  218. 

ST.  ATHANASIUS,  G.  C. — Having  noticed  the  frequent  varia- 

1  Una  omnium  sit. 

2  Nee  negari  possit,  ex  vitio  malae  intelligent!*,  fidei  exstitisse  dissidium, 
dum  quod  legitur,  sensui  potius  cooptatur,  quam  lectioni  sensus  obtemperat, 
tamen  dum  sibi  partes  singulae  adversantur. 

3  Victoria  enim  eorum,  ecclesias  triumphus  ex  omnibus  est. 

4  Et  inter  ha?c  fidem  nostram,  dum  sibi  adversantur,  affirmant. 


154  UNITY 

tions  made  in  their  creeds  by  the  Arians,  he  says  :  "  This,  as 
the  pastor  has  said,  is  the  offspring  of  the  Devil,  and  is  the 
mark  of  vintners  rather  than  of  teachers.  For  that,  as  the 
Fathers  have  handed  down,  is  truly  teaching,  and  this  the 
mark  of  those  who  teach  truly,1  to  confess  mutually  the  same 
things,  and  not  to  have  any  controversy  either  amongst  them 
selves,  or  with  their  Fathers.  For  they  who  are  not  thus  dis 
posed,  are  rather  to  be  called  wicked  than  truthful  teachers. 
Whence  the  Gentiles,  who  confess  not  the  same  things,  but 
are  at  variance  with  each  other,  possess  not  the  true  doctrine. 
But  the  holy  and  veritable  heralds  of  truth  are  of  one  mind 
with  each  other,  and  differ  not  amongst  themselves.  For, 
though  they  lived  at  different  periods,  yet  do  they  conspire 
together  for  the  same  object,  being  prophets  of  the  one  God, 
and  evangelizing  harmoniously  the  same  word."  —  De  Decretis 
Nicoen.  n.  4,  t.  I,  p.  166. 

"  As  for  you,  remaining  on  the  foundation  of  the  Apostles, 
and  holding  to  the  traditions  of  the  Fathers,  pray  that  now 
at  length  all  contention  and  emulation  may  cease,  and  that 
all  the  insane  questions,  and  logomachies  of  the  heretics  may 
be  condemned,  and  that  the  nefarious  and  homicidal  Arian 
heresy  may  disappear,  and  the  truth  shine  in  every  heart,  so 
that  all  may  everywhere  speak  the  same  thing,  and  think  the 
same  thing,  and  that,  no  Arian  blasphemies  remaining,  there 
may  be  proclaimed  and  confessed  throughout  every  church 
one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism,  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord." 
—  De  Synodis,  n.  54,  t.  I,  p.  ii.  p.  612. 

"  There  must  not  be  adoration  out  of  the  Church  ;  but  in 
the  very  court  of  God  is  it  to  be  performed.  Invent  not,  says 
he,  for  me  your  own  courts  and  synagogues  ;  the  holy  court 
of  God  is  one."  a  —  In  Ps.  xxviii.  t.  \\i.p.  66,  in  Montfaucorf  s 
Nov.  Collect,  t.  ii.  p.  89. 

ST.  ZENO,  L.  C.s  —  "  Ninive  represents  the  Church,  wherein 


ydp  GJ?  oi  rtarepf.S  TtapEdoonaGiv,  ovrooS  didatiKaXia,  nal 
8ida6HaX.oov  or/lT/JoJ?  rovro  rexjurfpiov. 
5  Mia  k6rlv  av\.rj  rj  dyia  SEOV. 
3  St.  Zeno,  an  African  by  birth,  on  coming  to  Italy  was  appointed  bishop 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  155 

even  then  our  people  of  the  Gentiles  dwelt,  which  God  has 
not  vainly  called  a  great  city ;  for  it  was  to  come  to  pass  that 
by  the  people  of  all  nations  believing  in  Christ,  the  whole 
universe  should  become  one  people  unto  God."  J — Z.  ii.  Tract. 
xvii.  n.  3,  Gotland,  t.  v.  p.  144. 

ST.  CYEIL  OF  JERUSALEM,  G.C. — See  the  extract  from  Catech. 
v.  given  under  "Authority?  pp.  51,  52. 

"  We  would  next  say  something  concerning  the  Holy  Ghost, 
not  to  declare  with  precision  His  substance,  for  that  is  impos 
sible  ;  but  to  state  the  various  errors  of  some  concerning  Him, 
lest  we  may  at  any  time  from  ignorance  fall  into  them ;  and 
to  cut  off  the  ways  of  error,  that  we  may  journey  on  the  one 
royal  road."  2 — Catech.  xvi.  n.  5,  p.  245. 

ST.  OPTATUS  OF  MILEVIS,  L.  C.3 — "  One  faith,  most  illus 
trious  brethren,  commends  all  of  us  who  are  Christians  to 
Almighty  God.  .  .  .  Before  the  Son  of  God  ascended  into 
heaven,  whence  He  had  descended,  He  left  behind  Him, 
through  the  Apostles,  to  all  Christians,  triumphant  peace,— 
a  peace  which,  for  fear  lest  He  might  seem  to  have  left  it  to 
the  Apostles  only,  therefore  does  He  say  :  What  I  say  to  one 
of  you,  I  say  to  all"  (Mark  xiii.  27). 

2.  "  Had  this  peace  continued  whole  and  inviolate  as  it  was 
given,  and  not  been  disturbed  by  the  authors  of  schism,  there 
would  not  now  be  any  dissension  between  us  and  our  brethren. 
.  .  .  Neither  should  we  be  lamenting  the  overthrown,  or 
slaughtered  souls  of  the  innocent."  .  .  . 

6.  "  You,  Parmenianus,  have  said  that  the  Church  is  one, 

of  Verona,  in  the  year  362.  He  died  about  the  year  383.  His  works  were 
collected  after  his  death,  at  the  beginning  of  the  fifth,  or  at  the  close  of  the 
fourth  century.  The  brothers  Ballerini  gave  an  excellent  edition,  in  1739, 
Veronae.  Gallandius  has  reprinted  it  in  his  fifth  volume. 

1  Totus  orbis  Deo  una  civitas  redderetur. 

2  Miar  686v  flaGikiKijv  odevdoojuev. 

3  He  was  bishop  of  Milevis,  a  city  of  Numidia.     He  seems,  from  St. 
Augustine,  I.  ii.  De  Doct.  Christ,  c.  40,  to  have  been  a  convert  from  pagan 
ism.      His  death  seems  to  have  taken  place  about  the  year  384.     His  work, 
which  is  against  a  Donatist  bishop,  Parmenianus  of  Carthage,  is  as  power 
ful  and  full  on  the  unity  of  the  Church  as  the  treatise  of  St.  Cyprian.     The 
edition  used  is  the  reprint  of  Du  Pin's  Ed.  by  Gallandius,  t.  v. 


156  UNITY 

to  the  exclusion  of  heretics ; '  but  you  have  not  chosen  to 
acknowledge  where  that  Church  is."  . 

7.  "It  is  for  me  to  state,  which,  or  where,  is  that  one 
Church  ;  which  is  the  Church,  since  besides  that  one,  there 
is  none  other."  a  .  .  . 

10.  "  You  have  said  that  with  heretics  the  marks3  of  the 
Church  cannot  be ;  and  you  say  truly ;  for  we  know  that  the 
churches  of  every  one  of  the  heretics  are  prostituted ;  are 
without  any  lawful  sacraments ;  and  without  the  rights  of  an 
honorable  marriage ;  churches  which  Christ  repudiates  as  un 
necessary,  He  being  the  spouse  of  one  Church  ;  as  in  the  Can 
ticles  Himself  testifies ;  who,  in  that  He  praises  one,  condemns 
all  others ;  because,  besides  the  one,  which  is  the  true  Ca 
tholic  (Church),  others  are  reckoned  as  being  amongst  here 
tics,  though  they  exist  not,4  agreeably  to  that  which  He  points 
out,  as  has  been  said,  in  the  Canticle  of  Canticles,  that  one  is 
His  dove;  and  that  same  one  His  chosen  spouse;  the  same,  a 
garden  enclosed,  and  a  fountain  sealed  up ;  as  none  of  the 
heretics  either  has  the  keys  which  Peter  alone  received  ;  or 
the  ring  with  which  the  fountain  is  said  to  be  sealed  up  ; 
nor  is  there  any  of  them  to  whom  that  garden  belongs, 
wherein  God  plants  His  shoots.  Concerning  which  here 
tics,  though  this  belongs  not  to  the  matter  before  me,  what 
you  have  erewhile  said  was  abundantly  enough.  But,  I  won 
der  what  you  were  at,  to  join  yourselves  also  to  them,  you 
who  are  manifestly  schismatics,  and  yet  to  deny  the  marks 
(gifts)  of  the  Church,  both  to  heretics  and  to  yourselves  who 
are  schismatics.  For  you  have,  amongst  other  things,  said, 
that  schismatics  are  like  branches  cut  off  from  the  vine ;  that, 
doomed  to  punishment,  they  are  reserved,  like  dry  wood,  for 
the  fire  of  hell.  But  I  perceive  that  you  are  ignorant  that  a 
schism  was  made  by  your  leaders,  at  Carthage.  Seek  into  the 

1  Exclusis  haereticis,  unam  dixisti  esse  ecclesiam. 

2  Qua?  vel  ubi  sit  una  ecclesia,  qua?  est,  quia  prater  unam  altera  non  est. 

3  Dotes :  gifts,  privileges. 

4  Quia  prater  unam  qua?  est  vera  Catholica,  cetera?  apud  ha?reticos  putan- 
tur  esse,  sed  non  sunt. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  157 

origin  of  these  things,  and  you  will  find  that  you  have  pro 
nounced  this  sentence  against  yourselves,  when  you  united 
heretics  with  schismatics.  For  it  was  not  Caecilianus  that 
went  out  from  your  ancestor  Majorinus,  but  Majorinus  from 
Csecilianus ;  neither  did  Csecilianus  withdraw  from  the  chair 
of  Peter,  or  of  Cyprian,  but  Majorinus  did,  whose  chair  you 
occupy,  which  chair,  antecedently  to  Majorinus  himself,  had 
no  original.  And  as  it  is  most  plainly  certain  that  these 
things  were  thus  transacted,  it  evidently  appears  that  you  are 
the  heirs  of  traitors1  and  schismatics."  .  .  . 

15.  "  And  as  it  has  been  demonstrated  that  your  leaders 
were  guilty  of  delivering  up  the  sacred  books,  the  proof  will 
follow  that  the  same  were  the  authors  of  the  schism.  That 
this  may  be  made  plain  and  manifest  to  all  men,  it  will  be  for 
me  to  show  out  of  what  root  the  branches  of  error  have,  even 
unto  the  present  hour,  spread  themselves  out ;  and  out  of 
what  fountain-head  this  rivulet  of  hurtful  water,  secretly 
gliding,  has  flowed  on  even  unto  these  our  days.  I  shall  have 
to  narrate  whence,  and  where,  and  from  whom,  it  is  undeni 
able  that  this  evil  has  originated ;  what  were  the  concurrent 
causes,  what  persons  influenced,  who  were  the  authors  of  this 
evil,  and  who  its  abettors ;  by  whom  judgment  between  the 
parties  was  required  of  an  emperor;  who  the  judges  that 
presided ;  where  the  council  was  held ;  what  the  sentence 
passed.  The  matter  now  to  be  treated  is  the  separation  (the 
departure).  In  Africa,  too,  as  in  the  other  provinces,  there 
was  but  one  Church,  prior  to  its  being  divided  by  the  ordina 
tions  of  that  Majorinus,  in  whose  chair  you  sit  as  heir.  We 
have  to  see  who  remained  in  the  root  with  the  whole  world ; 2 
who  went  out ;  who  established  another  chair,  which  till  then 
had  no  existence ;  who  set  up  altar  against  altar ;  who  gave 

1  Traditores :  persons  who  gave  up  the  sacred  books  to  pagans. 

2  Quis  in  radice  cum  toto  orbe  manserit.     This  permanence  and  continua 
tion  in  the  Church,  this  freedom  from  change,  is  again  and  again  urged  by 
St.  Optatus  as  an  evidence  of  truth.      Thus  I.  iii.  n.  7:  Non  propter  nos  qui 
intus  habitamus,  et  nunquam  de  radice  recessimus.     See  also  I.  ii.  n.  9,  et 
passim. 


158  UNITY 

ordination,  whilst  the  one  already  ordained  was  still  living ; 
who  lies  under  the  sentence  of  John  the  Apostle ;  who  said 
that  many  antichrists  would  go  out,  because,  says  he,  they 
were  not  of  us,  for  if  they  had  been  of  us,  they  would  have 
remained  with  us.  He,  therefore,  that  would  not  continue  as 
one  with  the  brethren,  having  followed  heretics,  he  went  forth 
as  an  antichrist."  .  .  . 

21.  "  Acknowledge  then  at  length  that,  as  it  is  undeniable 
that  your  predecessors  were  the  authors  of  this  other  crime 
(of  schism),  so  you  also  are  striving  to  follow  in  their  wicked 
footsteps :  that  what  they  were  the  first  to  do  in  the  matter  of 
schism,  that  you  have  also  done,  and  are  yet  visibly  doing. 
They,  in  their  day,  broke  the  peace ;  you  utterly  annihilate 
unity ;  of  your  forefathers  and  of  you  it  may  be  said  with 
justice,  If  the  blitid  lead  the  blind,  they  both  fall  Into  the  pit. 
A  frantic  envy  blinded  the  eyes  of  your  predecessors ;  a  spirit 
of  rivalry  has  put  out  yours.  That  schism  is  the  very  greatest 
of  evils  even  you  cannot  possibly  deny.  And  yet  have  you 
fearlessly  imitated  your  abandoned  masters,  Dathan  and  Abi- 
ron  and  Core ;  and  would  riot  set  before  your  eyes  that  this 
evil  is  both  forbidden  by  the  words  of  God,  and  when  com 
mitted  is  grievously  punished.  {lie  then  narrates  the  punish 
ment  of  Dathan,  <£•<?.,  and  makes  this  application.]  And  be 
cause  there  is  now  no  such  vengeance  taken,  do  you  claim  for 
yourself,  and  for  your  party,  impunity  from  guilt  ?  God  has, 
in  individual  cases,  made  examples,  thereby  to  fix  on  all  imita 
tors  their  guilt ;  a  present  punishment,  to  serve  as  a  warning, 
crushed  the  first  instance  of  each  kind  of  sin ;  all  that  follow 
He  will  reserve  unto  the  judgment.  What  will  you  say  to 
this,  you  who,  after  usurping  the  name  of  the  Church,  both 
secretly  feed,  and  shamelessly  defend,  a  schism  ?  .  .  . 

L.  ii.  n.  1.  "  Having  shown  wherein  heresy  differs  from 

schism,  we  have  next  to  point  out  which  is  that  one  Church 

which  Christ  calls  the  dove  and  spouse.     The  Church  then  is 

one1  of  which  the  holiness  is  gathered  from  the  sacraments, 

1  Ecclesia  una  est. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  159 

and  not  computed  by  the  pride  of  individuals.  This  Church 
then  alone  Christ  calls  His  dove  and  beloved  spouse.  This 
cannot  be  amongst  all  that  are  heretics  and  schismatics.  It 
remains,  therefore,  that  it  be  in  one  place.  You,  Parmeni- 
anus,  have  said  that  it  is  with  your  party  only  .  .  .  conse 
quently,  for  it  to  be  with  you,  in  a  small  portion  of  Africa, 
in  a  corner  of  a  small  district,  will  it  not  be  with  us  in  an 
other  part  of  Africa  ?  Will  it  not  be  in  Spain,  in  Gaul, 
in  Italy,  where  your  party  is  not  ?  If  it  be  your  pleasure 
that  it  be  with  you  only,  will  it  not  be  in  the  three  districts 
of  Pannonia,  in  Dacia,  Msesia,  Thrace,  Achaia,  Macedonia, 
and  in  the  whole  of  Greece?  [Having  enumerated  almost 
every  country  of  the  then  known  world,  he  continues :] 
Then  where  will  be  the  propriety  of  the  name  Catholic, 
since  the  Church  is  called  Catholic  from  this,  that  it  is  ac 
cording  to  reason,  and  is  everywhere  diffused  ? '  For  if  you 
thus,  at  your  pleasure,  narrow  the  Church  into  so  straitened 
limits,  if  you  withdraw  from  it  all  nations,  where  will  that  be 
which  the  Son  of  God  merited  ?  Where  that  which  the 
Father  freely  of  His  bounty  bestowed  on  Him,  saying  in  the 
second  Psalm,  /  will  give  Thee  the  nations  for  Thine  in 
heritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  tJie  earth  for  Thy  pos 
session" — De  Schism.  Donat.  I.  1,  n.  1,  2,  7,  10,  15,  21,  and 
Lib.  ii.  n.  1. 

[A  little  after  the  extracts  given  above,  he  continues :] 
"  Understand  then  at  last,  that  you  are  undutiful  children ; 
that  you  are  tendrils  cut  off  from  the  vine ;  that  you  are  a 
stream  separated  from  its  fountain-head.  For  a  stream  that  is 
small,  and  does  not  spring  from  itself,  cannot  be  a  fountain- 
source  ;  nor  a  lopped  branch  be  a  tree ;  since  a  tree  flourishes 
resting  on  its  own  roots ;  and  if  a  branch  be  cut  off,  it  withers. 
Seest  thou  now,  Parmenianus,  that,  in  thine  arguments,  thou 
hast  fought  against  thyself  ?  Since  it  has  been  shown  .  .  . 

1  Ubi  ergo  erit  proprietas  catholic!  nominis,  cum  inde  dicta  sit  Catho- 
lica,  quod  sit  rationabilis  (dito  rov  Hard  Xoyov.  so  others  of  the  Fathers) 
et  ubique  diffusa. 


160  UNITY 

that  through  the  chair  of  Peter,  which  is  ours,  that  through 
it  the  other  marks  (gifts)  are  also  with  us."  ' — Ib.  I.  ii.  n.  9.3 

"  We  see  that  Christ  Himself  preferred  this  unity  to  His 
vengeance,  in  that  He  wished  all  His  disciples  to  be  in  one,8  in 
preference  to  inflicting  punishment  after  being  offended  :  de 
sirous  not  to  be  denied,  He  warned  that  whoso  should  deny 
Him,  him  would  He  deny  before  the  Father :  and  though 
this  is  written,  yet,  for  the  good  of  unity,  blessed  Peter, — for 
whom,  after  his  denial,  it  were  enough  if  he  obtained  pardon, 
—merited  both  to  be  preferred  to  all  the  Apostles,  and  he 
alone  received  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  the  keys  to  be  com 
municated  to  the  others.4  ...  If  the  love  of  innocence  were 
to  be  set  above  the  advantage  of  peace  and  unity,  the  Apos 
tles  would  have  said  that  they  ought  not  to  hold  communion 
with  Peter,  who  had  denied  their  Master  and  their  Lord,  the 
Son  of  God.  They  might  have  not  communicated  with 
Peter;  they  might  have  quoted  against  him  the  words  of 
Christ,  who  had  declared  that  lie  would  deny  before  the 
Father,  whomsoever  should  deny  Him  before  men.  .  .  .  The 
head  of  the  Apostles 6  might  so  have  governed  himself  as  not 
to  incur  a  crime  of  which  he  would  have  to  repent ;  but  his 
various  errors  are  therefore  seen  under  one  head,  that  it  might 
be  shown  that,  for  the  good  of  unity,  everything  ought  to  be 
endured  for  God.6  .  .  .  There  stand  so  many  without  guilt, 
and  a  sinner  receives  the  keys,  that  there  might  be  a  pattern 
in  the  matter  of  unity.  It  was  provided  that  a  sinner  should 
open  to  the  innocent,  lest  the  innocent  might  shut  the  door 
against  the  guilty,  and  that  unity,  which  is  necessary,  be  not." 
— De  Schis.  Donat.  I.  vii.  n.  3. 

1  Et  per  cathedram  Petri  quae  nostra  est,  per  ipsam  et  caeteras  dotes 
apud  nos  esse. 

2  For  the  continuation,  see  the  article   "  Catholicity,'''  and  then  the 
"  Primacy  of  St.  Peter."      Without  reading  these  extracts  consecutively, 
much  of  the  force  of  St.  Optatus'  reasoning  will  be  lost. 

3  Omnes  discipulos  suos   voluit  esse   in  uno.     The  argument  seems  to 
require  that  in  uno :  in  one,  be  referred  to  Peter. 

4  Et  pneferri  omnibus  Apostolis  meruit,  et  claves  regni  coelorum  com- 
municandas  cjeteris  solus  accepit. 

5  Caput  apostolorum,  6  Omnia  debere  Deo  servari. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  :161 

LUCIFER  OF  CAGLIARI,  L.  C. — "If  you,  heretics,  and  in 
deed  men  of  all  sects,  are  to  be  admitted  as  witnesses  against 
Christians,  then  ought  the  heathens  also  and  the  Jews ;  since, 
whether  Jews,  or  heathens,  or  you  heretics  that  are  without 
the  Church,  ye  are  without  God,  as  once  were  all  who  were 
not  in  holy  Noah's  ark.  For  as  they,  being  out  of  the  ark, 
could  not  be  saved,  so  neither  can  you :  but  like  them  will 
you  perish,  unless,  believing  in  the  only  Son  of  God,  ye  be 
found  remaining  together  with  us  in  the  holy  Church." — Pro. 
S.  Athanas.  1.  ii.  n.  28.  Galland.  t.  \\.  p.  190. 

ST.  EPHR^EM,  G.  C. — He  thus  applies  the  history  of  Solo 
mon's  judgment :  "  The  king  of  peace  settled  the  dispute,  not 
by  dividing,  but  by  bringing  together  the  children  of  each  of 
these  mothers  :  so  that,  of  Jews  and  Gentiles  there  should  be 
composed  but  one  body,  of  which  Christ  is  the  head.  Fur 
ther,  both  mothers  are  said  to  dwell  in  one  house,  because  the 
Church  and  the  synagogue  inhabit  the  world  with  their  tents 
united.  Again,  the  opposite  wishes  of  these  women  declare 
to  us  the  opposite  desires  of  the  Church  and  of  each  of  the 
Beets.  For  all  heresies  delight  in  division  ;  on  the  other  hand, 
the  true  mother,  and  the  alone  Church  of  Christ,  avoids  dis 
sensions  and  schisms,  careful  to  keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in 
the  bond  of  peace." — T.  1,  P.  ii.  Comm.  in  Lib.  1  (Al.  iii.) 
Regn.  p.  452. 

"  Grant,  I  beseech  Thee,  to  the  whole  world,  that  most  de 
sirable  result,  peace  and  tranquillity.  Tear  up  by  the  roots, 
and  extirpate  schisms,  and  those  most  ruinous  disputes  which 
are  utterly  opposed  to  the  holiness  of  Thy  Church,  and  to  the 
unity  of  its  members,  and  we  will  celebrate  the  praises  of 
Thy  clemency."—  T.  iii.  Syr.  Parcen.  ¥l,p.  510.1 

1  St.  EphraBm  argues  again  and  again  that  sects  that  are  characterized 
by  the  names  of  men  are  thereby  shown  to  be  false  and  human  inventions. 
Out  of  very  many  passages  I  select  the  following.  Addressing  those  who 
called  themselves  after  Apollos,  he  says:  "  He  would  not,  whilst  alive,  that 
his  name  should  be  assumed  by  any  ;  and  now,  were  he  permitted,  after  his 
death,  to  speak,  he  would  say  anathema  to  all  such." — T.  ii.  Syr.  p.  486. 
"  The  twelve  Apostles  cultivated  the  whole  world,  but  there  was  not  one 
part  of  the  world  that  took  the  name  of  its  husbandman  ;  but  when  the 


162  UNITY 

ST.  GREGORY  OF  NTSSA,  G.  C. — "  How  beautiful  art  thou, 
my  love,  how  beautiful  art  thou  !  thine  eyes  are  dove'1  s  eyes 
(C.  Cant.  iv.  1).  The  whole  Church  is  the  one  body  of 
Christ,1  though  in  this  one  body,  as  the  Apostle  observes, 
there  are  many  members,  but  all  the  members  have  not  the 
same  office,  .  .  .  and  it  is  perfectly  clear  to  those  who  hear 
me,  to  what  members  of  the  Church  the  praise  bestowed  on 
the  eyes  belongs.  Samuel,  the  Seer,  for  so  he  was  called,  was 
an  eye,  so  was  Ezechiel,  .  .  .  they,  too,  who  were  appointed  to 
lead  the  people  were  all  of  them  eyes,  whom  the  men  of  those 
days  called  seers.  And  they  who  now  occupy  this  same  post 
in  the  body  of  the  Church,  and  who  have  been  appointed 
overseers  (bishops),  are  properly  called  eyes,  if  they  carefully 
look  unto  the  Sun  of  Justice,  being  in  no  way  blinded  by 
works  of  darkness." — T.  1,  Horn.  vii.  in  C.  Cantic.  pp.  576, 
577.  See  also  Ibid.  Horn.  xiii.  p.  603,  C. 

"  Whoso  has  learnt  that  Christ  is  the  head  of  the  Church,  let 
him,  before  all  things,  bear  this  in  mind,  that  the  head  is  ever 
of  the  same  nature  and  substance  as  the  body  beneath  it ;  and 
that  there  is  a  certain  coherence  of  each  of  the  limbs  with  the 
whole.  .  .  .  Whence  if  any  part  be  out  of  the  body,  it  is  ut 
terly  disconnected  with  the  head." — T.  iii.  De  Perfect.  Chris, 
form. p.  289. 

ST.  GREGORY  OF  NAZIANZEN,  G.  C. — "  This  discord  it  is  that 
has  split  the  one  Church  into  many  parts ;  and  has  banded  us, 

agriculturists  were  dead,  the  tares  sprang  up,  and  gave  their  own  names  to 
the  harvest,  after  changing  the  ivheat  into  cockle,  to  be  pulled  up  at  a  fixed 
time  by  the  hands  of  the  reapers.  .  .  .  What  availed  it  for  our  Lord  to 
labor  and  teach,  if  wicked  and  impious  men  were  to  obtrude  their  names 
and  give  them  to  sects?" — Ibid.  p.  489.  "The  assembly  of  the  saints 
vehemently  detests  appellations  derived  from  men.  .  .  .  Have  (the  secta 
rians)  not  read  how  the  Apostle  blames  those,  of  whom  some  said  that  they 
were  disciples  of  Cephas,  others  of  Paul,  and  others  of  Apollos  ?  .  .  .  Here 
then  give  heed  and  apply  your  minds,  that  you  may  clearly  understand  by 
which  side  the  doctrine  of  the  Apostles  is  preserved.  These  sons  never  called 
the  spouse  by  their  names ;  whoso,  therefore,  affixes,  on  account  of  his  doctrine, 
his  name  to  the  flock,  departs  widely  from  the  discipline  of  the  Apostles ;  on. 
the  other  hand,  whoso  marks  that  flock  with  the  name  of  the  Lord,  we  say 
that  with  him  has  abided,  and  still  continues,  the  truth." — Ibid.  p.  493. 
1  °EV  (jo5>ua  TOV  XpiGrov  r/ 


OF  THE  CHUlvCii.  163 

not  to  side  with  one  Paul,  or  Cephas,  or  Apollos,  or  with  some 
one  that  plants,  or  some  one  that  waters,  but  has  produced  many 
Pauls,  and  Apollos,  and  Cephases,  after  whom  we  take  our 
names,  instead  of  that  great  and  common  name,  Christ,  and  we 
are  said  to  belong  to  these  men."  '—  T.  1,  or.  26,  p.  445.  See 
also  T.  I,  or.  51,  ad  Cledonium,p.  745,  B  ;  and  the  extract  al 
ready  given  under  "  Authority"  pp.  55,  56. 

ST.  BASIL,  G.  C.  —  Adore  ye  the  Lord  in  His  holy  court  (Ps. 
xxviii.  2).  Adoration  is  necessary,  but  adoration  which  is  not 
out  of  the  Church,  but  is  offered  in  the  very  court  of  God.  In 
vent  not,  He  says,  your  own  courts  and  synagogues  for  me. 
One  is  the  holy  court  of  God.  The  synagogue  of  the  Jews  was 
formerly  that  court,  but,  after  their  sin  against  Christ,  their  ho  use 
became  desolate.  Hence  does  the  Lord  also  say,  And  other  sheep 
I  have  that  are  not  of  this  fold  (St.  John  x.  16),  where  speaking 
of  those  that  are  pre-ordained  out  of  the  Gentiles  unto  salvation, 
He  points  out  a  court  of  His  own,  besides  that  of  the  Jews. 
Wherefore  out  of  that  holy  court,  God  is  not  to  be  worshipped, 
but  in  that  court  ;  lest  he  that  is  out  of  it,  or  is  drawn  out  of  it 
by  those  that  are  without,  cease  to  be  in  the  Lord's  court."— 
T.  I,  par.  1,  Hom.in  Ps.  xxviii.  pp.  165,  166.  See  also  Ibid. 
Horn,  in  Ps.  xliv.  n.  9,  p.  238,  A.3 

"  Since  the  only-begotten  Son  of  God,  and  Lord  and  God 


sas: 


2  Explaining  in  the  same  volume  (p.  262)  the  48th  Psalm,  ver.  12.  he 
s:  "If  thou  behold  one  of  those  who  are  puffed  up  with  knowledge 
falsely  so  called;  and  who  give  in  their  adhesion  to  wicked  doctrines;  and 
who,  in  lieu  of  the  name  of  Christians,  designate  themselves  after  one  of 
the  leaders  of  heresy,  such  as  Marcion,  or  Valentinus,  or  one  of  those  Jhafc 
now  rise  to  the  surface;  know  that  these  also  have  called  their  lands  by  their 
names  (Ps.  xlviii.  12),  by  uniting  themselves  to  men  corrupt  and  utterly 
earthly."  St.  Gregory  of  Nyssa  uses  similar  language:  "Just  will  it  be 
in  you  to  oppose  all  that  power  which  you  have  from  the  grace  of  God,  and 
from  your  Church,  to  the  knowledge  falsely  so  called  of  men,  who  are  ever 
discovering  something  fresh  against  the  truth;  men  through  whom  that 
harmony  which  is  according  to  God  is  broken,  whilst  the  great  and  vene 
rable  name  of  Christians  is  suppressed,  and  the  Church  is  portioned  out  ac 
cording  to  human  appellations;  and  what  is  most  dreadful  of  all,  men  take 
a  pleasure  in  being  designated  after  those  who  have  led  them  into  error."— 
T.  iii.  Contr.  Apollinar.  p.  261. 


164  UNITY 

Jesus  Christ,  by  whom  all  things  were  made,  cries  aloud,  7 
came  down  from  heaven  not  to  do  my  own  will,  but  the  will  of 
Him  that  sent  me,  even  the  Father  (St.  John  vi.  38),  and,  of 
myself  I  do  nothing  (Ib.  viii.  28),  and,  I  have  received  a  com 
mandment  what  I  should  say,  and  what  I  should  speak  (Ib. 
xii.  49) ;  and  as  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  distributes  gifts  great 
and  wonderful,  who  worketh  all  in  all,  speaketh  nothing  of 
Himself,  but  whatsoever  He  shall  hear  from  the  Lord  that  He 
speaks  ;  how  can  it  fail  but  be  much  more  necessary  for  the 
whole  Church  of  God,  careful  to  keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit 
in  the  bond  of  peace,  to  fulfil  what  is  said  in  the  Acts,  And 
tJie  multitude  of  believers  had  but  one  heart  and  one  soul  (iv. 
32) ;  no  one,  that  is,  setting  up  his  own  will,  but  all  in  com 
mon  seeking,  in  one  Holy  Ghost,  the  will  of  that  one  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  who  says,  /  came  down  from  heaven,  not  to  do 
my  own  will,  &c.  (John  vi.  38) ;  and  who  says  to  the  Father, 
not  for  them  only  do  I  pray,  but  for  them  also  who  through 
their  word  believe  in  me,  that  they  all  may  be  one  (Ib.  xvii.  20). 
I  am  thus  clearly,  and  past  all  debate,  fully  convinced  by  these, 
and  many  other  (testimonies)  which  I  pass  over  in  silence,  that 
concord,  agreeably  to  the  will  of  Christ  in  the  Holy  Ghost, 
throughout  the  whole  Church  of  God  together,  is  necessary.'1 
-Procem-.  de  Judico.  Dei,  t.  Up.  1,  n.  4,jp.  302.     See  also  T. 
\\\.p.  1,  de  S.  Sane.  c.  xxvi.  §  61,^.  71,  A. 

"  Since  all  who  have  hoped  in  Christ  are  one  people,1  and 
they  who  are  Christ's  are  now  one  people,  though  the  people 
be  named  after  different  places,  your  country  rejoices  and  is 
gladdened  at  the  dispensation  of  the  Lord,  and  accounts  not 
itself  to  have  lost  one  man  (by  Amphilochius  being  chosen 
bishop),  but  by  one  man  to  have  entered  into  possession  of  all 
the  churches."— Ib.  Ep.  clxi.  ad  Amphil.  p.  364. 

"  It  is  more  just  that  we  be  judged,  in  what  regards  ourselves, 
not  by  one  or  two  who  walk  not  according  to  truth,  but  by  the 
multitude  of  bishops,  who,  by  the  favor  of  Christ,  are  united 
with  us.  Let  the  question  be  put  to  those  of  Pisidia,  Lycao- 

1  Eh 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  165 

ma,  of  the  Isauris,  of  both  Phrygias,  of  tliat  part  of  Armenia 
that  borders  on  your  country,  of  Macedonia,  of  Achaia,  of  Illy- 
ricum,  of  Gaul,  Spain,  the  whole  of  Italy,  Sicily,  Africa,  the 
sound  districts  of  Egypt,  and  what  is  left  of  Syria  ;  they  all 
both  send  letters  to  me,  and  receive  mine  :  from  which  letters, 
whether  sent  by  them  or  received  from  us,  you  may  learn  that 
we  are  all  unanimous,  and  think  the  same  thing.1  So  that  it 
will  not  escape  your  accuracy,  that  whoso  flies  from  commu 
nion  with  us,  severs  himself  from  the  whole  Church.  ...  It 
were  better  that  we  should  be  cast  aside,  and  the  churches  be 
of  one  mind  with  each  other,2  than  that,  through  our  puerile 
narrowness  of  mind,  so  great  an  evil  should  be  brought  upon 
the  people  of  God."—  T.  \\i.p.  %,Ep.  cciv.  ad  Neoccesarienses, 
n.  1,pp.  444,  445. 

"  We  are  indeed  little  and  lowly,  but,  by  God's  grace,  we  are 
always  the  same,  and  are  not  moulded  by  the  changes  of  things. 
For  our  faith  is  not  different  in  Seleucia,  different  in  Constan 
tinople,  and  different  at  Zelis,  at  Lampsacus  different,  and 
another  at  Eome,  but  always  one  and  the  same.3  For  as  we 
received  of  the  Lord,  so  are  we  baptized  ;  as  we  were  baptized, 
so  do  we  believe  ;  as  we  believe,  so  is  our  doxology."  —  Ib.  Ep. 
251,  n.  4,  Evcesenis,  p.  562. 

ST.  PACTAN,  L.  C.  —  "  If  it  be  not  a  carnal  motive,  my  lord, 
but,  as  I  think,  a  spiritual  call,  that  has  led  you  to  inquire  from 
us  the  credibility  of  Catholic  truth,  it  was  your  first  duty  (as 
you  hold  not  to  the  source  and  fountain  of  the  parent  (princi 
pal)  Church,  but  have  sprung,  as  far  as  I  can  see,  at  some  time 
or  other,  from  a  mere  rivulet)  to  state  what  your  opinions  are, 
or  in  what  you  differ  from  us,  and  thus  discover  what  was  the 
cause  that  especially  separated  you  from  the  unity  of  our 
\>ody."—GaUand.  t.  vii.  Epist.  i.  n.  I,  p.  257. 

"  Grant  that  Novatian  suffered  somewhat,  yet  he  was  not  put 
to  death  ;  and  had  he  been  put  to  death,  he  would  not  there- 


1  'Orz  tivufyvxoi  TtdrreS  eti/niv,  TO  EV  <pporovre<S. 

2  Td$  ds  kKKkrj6ia<->  6/j.ovosl 

3  *AXXd  nia  nod  77  avrrj  del. 


166  UNITY 

fore  have  been  crowned.  "Why  ?  Because  he  was  out  of  the 
peace  of  the  Church,  out  of  concord,  out  of  that  mother  of 
whom  he  ought  to  be  a  part,  who  is  a  martyr.1  Hearken  to 
the  Apostle  :  And  if  1  should  have  all  faith,  so  that  I  could 
remove  mountains,  and  have  not  charity,  1  am  nothing"- 
Ibid.  Ep.  ii.  n.  7,  p.  261.  See  also  the  extract  given  under 
"Authority" p.  58,  et  seqq. 

ST.  AMBROSE,  L.  C. — "  The  sea  saw  and  fled,  &c.  The  water, 
at  the  Lord's  command,  knew  both  to  gather  together,  to  fear 
and  to  fly.  Let  us  be  likened  unto  this  water,  and  we  shall 
know  the  one  congregation  of  the  Lord,  the  one  Church.* 
Time  was  that  the  water  here  was  gathered  out  of  every  valley, 
marsh,  and  lake.  The  valley  is  heresy,  is  Gentilism,  because 
God  is  the  God  of  the  hills,  not  of  the  valleys.  In  fine,  in 
the  Church  there  is  exultation  ;  in  heresy  and  Gentilism,  weep 
ing  and  mourning.  Whence  he  says,  lie  hath  set  it  in  the  vale 
of  tears.  Out  of  every  valley  therefore  is  the  Catholic  people 
gathered.  And  now  the  congregations  are  not  many ;  but 
there  is  one  congregation,  one  Church." s  — Hexcemer.  lib.  3,  c. 
i.  n.  2,  3,  p.  34. 

"  He  (Christ)  also  declares  that  they  who  divide  the  Lord's 
Church  are  moved  by  a  devilish  spirit ;  that  thus  He  might 
at  once  comprise  the  heretics  and  schismatics  of  all  times,  to 
whom  to  deny  forgiveness  ;  for  as  much  as  every  (other)  sin 
has  for  its  object  individuals,  whilst  this  is  against  all  men. 
For  they  alone  who  tear  in  pieces  the  members  of  the  Church, 
for  which  the  Lord  Jesus  suffered  and  the  Holy  Ghost  has 
been  given  unto  us,  seek  to  render  void  the  grace  of  Christ." 
-T.  ii.  I.  ii.  de  Penitent,  c.  iv.  n.  Z±,pp.  421,  422. 

"  Learn  from  this  that  all  heretics  and  schismatics  are  sepa 
rated  from  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  from  the  Church  ;  and 
it  is  therefore  manifest  that  all  assemblies  of  schismatics  and 

1  Extra  ecclesiae  pacem,  extra  concordiam,  extra  earn  matrem  cujus 
portio  debet  esse  qui  martyr  est. 

a  Unam  congregationem  Domini,  unam  ecclesiam. 

3  Jam  non  multae  congregationes  sunt,  sed  una  est  congregatio,  una 
ecclesia. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  167 

heretics  are  not  of  God,  but  of  the  unclean  spirit." — T.  i. 
Expos.  Ev.  St.  Lucce,  n.  95,^.  1432.  See  the  account,  taken 
from  his  Serm.  de  Obit.  Pratr.  Satyti,  of  his  brother's  re 
fusing  to  receive  the  holy  communion,  until  he  had  ascer 
tained  whether  the  bishop  was  orthodox,  given  under  "  R.  C. 
Church." 

ST.  EPIPHANIUS,  G.  C. — Having,  at  p.  302,  adv.  Ilceres., 
stated  that  Marcion  was,  on  account  of  his  crimes,  excom 
municated  by  his  own  father,  he  gives  the  following  as  hav 
ing  taken  place  at  Rome,  where  Marcion  applied  to  be  received 
into  communion  :  "  Why  will  you  not  receive  me  ?  And 
then  they  told  him  that  they  could  not  do  it  without  the  con 
currence  of  his  venerable  father,  for  one  is  the  faith,  and  one 
our  unanimity,  neither  can  we  act  in  opposition  to  our  excel 
lent  fellow-minister,  thy  father.  But  he,  being  moved  with 
envy,  and  excited  to  great  rage  and  pride,  brought  about  a 
schism ;  and  secretly  adding  heresy,  he  declared,  <  I  will 
divide  your  Church,  and  cast  a  schism  into  it  that  shall 
endure  for  ever ; '  and  in  truth  he  did  originate  a  no  slight 
schism,  not  rending  the  Church,  but  himself,  and  those  that 
sided  with  him."— T7.  i.  adv.  Hceres.  42,  p.  303.  See  also  the 
extract  .under  "Apostolidty"  from  Ilceres.  42,  pp.  366,  367. 
And  for  a  similar  passage,  see  Ibid.  litres.  70,  p.  827. 
Having  named  five  great  trunks,  or  sources  of  heresy,  he  says, 
"  Hence  the  separated  heresies  have,  as  branches,  been  torn 
off ;  called  indeed  after  Christ's  name,  yet  not  His,  but  are, 
some  of  them,  at  a  very  great  distance  from  Him  ;  whilst 
others,  on  account  of  some  very  slight  matter,  are  disinherited, 
and  have  made  themselves  and  their  children  aliens  unto  Him ; 
they  are  not  within  the  boundaries,  but  have  established  them 
selves  without,  and  have  nothing  of  Christ  but  the  name. 
There  but  remains  for  us  to  show  forth  the  truth,  and  the 
oneness  of  that  dove  which  is  praised  by  the  bridegroom." — 
Adv.  Hceres.  80,  pp.  1076,  1077. 

"  The  Church  is  begotten  from  one  faith,  and  brought  forth 
by  means  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  only  child  of  her  that  is  but 


168  UNITY 

one,  the  only  child  of  her  mother.1  And  as  many  as  have 
come  after  her,  or  have  been  before  her,  are  called  concu 
bines  ;  which  though  they  may  not  have  become  utterly 
aliens  from  the  covenant  and  inheritance,  yet  have  they  no 
dowry  from  the  Word,  and  no  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
[Having  enumerated  the  heresies,  he  adds  :]  There  remains 
the  one,  to  wit,  the  holy  Catholic  Church,  called  also,  with 
just  cause,  from  the  first,  Christianity  ;  and  by  Adam,  and 
before  Adam,  before  even  all  ages  with  Christ,  by  the  will 
of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  believed  in,  and  at  His 
advent  in  the  world  clearly  revealed,  and  by  us  now,  after  all 
these  heresies,  yea  concubines,  again  celebrated,  as  the  order 
of  our  discourse  requires."  —  Ibid.  pp.  1083,  1084. 

"  You  that  have  gone  through  this  whole  work  of  mine,  or 
part  of  it,  pray  for  me  that  God  may  vouchsafe  unto  me  a 
portion  in  that  holy  and  one  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church, 
the  true,  the  life-giving,  and  the  saving."  —  Adv.  Ilceres.  (Exp. 
Fid.\p.  1102. 

COUNCIL  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE,  G.C.  —  This  second  oecumenical 
council  added  to  the  creed  of  Nicaea  the  articles  relative  to 
the  Church  :  "  We  believe  ...  in  (into)  one  holy,  Catholic, 
and  Apostolic  Church."  And  in  the  synodal  epistle  addressed 
to  the  Western  Church,  which  received  the  enlarged  creed, 
they  say  :  "  The  word  of  faith  being  thus  uttered  as  witli  one 
mouth,  and  Christian  love  being  confirmed  in  us,  let  us  cease 
from  saying  that  which  was  condemned  by  the  Apostles,  1 
am  of  Paul,  and  lam  of  Apollos,  and  1  of  Cephas,  but  all 
seen  to  be  of  Christ,  who  in  us  is  not  divided,  we  shall,  God 
vouchsafing  it,  preserve  the  body  of  the  Church  undivided, 
and  we  shall  stand  with  confidence  at  the  tribunal  of  the  Lord." 
—  Ep.  Synod.  Damaso  et  Aliis,  p.  966,  t.  ii.  Lalle. 

ST.  SIRICIUS,  POPE,  L.  C.a—  u  It  has  been  arranged  by  apos- 


ktirlv  drto  /u'aS  ittireaoS  yeyev^i^Evij  .  .  .  /uia 
nal  nia.  Ty  y  ty  EV  vr^xvia. 

9  He  succeeded  Damasus  in  the  year  384,  and  died  in  398.      The  edition 
used  is  that  given  by  Gallandius,  t.  vii.,  after  Constant. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  169 

tolic  discipline,  that  one  ought  to  be  the  confession  (of  faith) 
of  the  Catholic  bishops.  Wherefore,  if  the  faith  be  one,  one 
also  ought  the  tradition  to  continue.  If  one  the  tradition, 
one  ought  to  be  the  discipline  observed  throughout  all  the 
churches.  The  churches  are  indeed  founded  in  different 
countries,  but,  by  the  oneness  of  the  Catholic  faith,  through 
out  the  whole  world  has  (the  Church)  been  called  one.  For 
thus  also  do  we  read  :  One  is  my  dove,  my  perfect  one  is  but 
one,  she  is  the  only  one  of  her  mother" — Gotland,  t.  vii.  Ep. 
viii.  sen  Canon.  Synod.  Rom.  ad  Episcopos.  Gall.n.  9,_p.  547. 

"  The  Apostle  says  of  the  Church :  We  being  many,  are 
one  bread  (1  Cor.  x.) ;  because,  as  one  bread  is  formed  out  of 
many  grains,  so  one  church  is  congregated  out  of  many  na 
tions."  ' — Gall.  t.  vii.  Incert.  Auct.  Brev.  Fidei,p.  596. 

ST.  JEROME,  L.  C. — "  Great  the  labor,  but  great  the  reward, 
to  be  what  the  martyrs,  to  be  what  the  Apostles  are,  to  be 
what  Christ  is.  All  which,  indeed,  is  then  of  benefit,  when 
done  in  the  Church  ;  when  we  celebrate  the  Passover  in  one 
house  ; 2  if  we  go  into  the  ark  with  Noah.  ...  As  to  virgins, 
such  as  are  amongst  divers  heresies,  and  such  as  there  are  said 
to  be  in  the  party  of  the  most  impure  Manichaeus,  they  are  to 
be  accounted  harlots,  not  virgins." — T.  i.  Ep.  xxii.  ad  Eusto- 
chium,  n.  38,  col.  121. 

"  She, — that  with  a  firm  root  is  planted  upon  the  rock 
Christ, — the  Catholic  Church,  the  one  dove,  she  stands,  the 
perfect  one,  and  nighest  to  Him  on  His  right  hand ;  for  she 
has  nothing  sinister  in  her ;  she  stands  in  gilded  robes,  pass 
ing  from  the  words  to  the  meaning  of  the  Scripture ;  and 
she  is  filled  with  every  virtue,  or,  as  we  have  translated  it, 
with  a  diadem  of  gold.  For  she  is  a  queen,  and  reigns 
together  with  the  king ;  whose  daughters  we  may  understand 
to  be  the  souls  of  believers  in  general,  and  of  the  choirs  of 

1  The  author  of  this  treatise  is  not  known.     It  is  given  by  Qallandius, 
t.  vii. 

2  Quse  quidern  uni versa  tune  prosunt,  quum  in  ecclesia  fiunt;  quum  in 
una  domo  Pascha  celebramus. 


170  UNITY 

virgins  in  particular." — Ib.  Ep.  Ixv.  ad  Principiam,  n.  15, 
col.  384. 

"  Let  one  Eve  be  the  mother  of  all  the  living,  and  one  Church 
the  parent  of  all  Christians."  '  —  Ib.  Ep.  cxxiii.  ad  Agronchiam. 
n.  12,  col.  902. 

"  Through  luxury  and  voluptuousness,  and  its  profitableness, 
they  are  at  discord  with  each  other  about  the  people,  and  one 
heresy  becomes  two,  and  they  are  again  subdivided,  that  so 
they  may  lead  away  their  distinct  flocks,  and  may  devour  the 
houses  of  widows,  and  of  sinful  women,  who  are  ever  learning, 
and  never  attain  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth." — T.  iv.  I.  iv. 
Comm.  in  Is.  col.  140. 

"  That  there  is  one  altar  in  the  Church,  and  one  faith,  and 
one  baptism,  the  Apostle  teaches ;  which  altar  the  heretics 
having  abandoned,  have  built  for  themselves  many  altars,  not 
to  render  God  propitious,  but  to  the  multiplication  of  sins.  For 
which  cause  they  deserve  not  to  receive  the  laws  of  God, 
seeing  that  the  laws  which  they  had  received,  they  despised ; 
and  should  they  say  anything  concerning  the  Scriptures,  it  is 
not  to  be  likened  to  the  words  of  God,  but  to  the  sentiments 
of  Gentiles.8  These  men  immolate  numerous  victims  and 
eat  their  flesh,  deserting  the  one  victim  of  Christ ;  neither  do 
they  eat  His  flesh,  whose  flesh  is  the  food  of  believers.  Do 
they  what  they  may — simulating  the  order  and  rite  of  the 
sacrifices,  or  give  they  alms,  or  promise  they  chastity,  or  affect 
humility,  and  with  feigned  kindness  deceive  the  simple, — the 
Lord  will  receive  no  part  of  these  their  sacrifices." — T.  vi.  I. 
ii.  Comm.  in  Osee,  col.  88,  89. 

Commenting  on  Osee  x.  1,  2  :  "  That  the  hearts  of  heretics 
are  divided,  and  that  they  oppose  each  other  with  opposite 
opinions,  even  themselves  do  not  deny,  seeing  that  their  senti 
ments  are  conflicting.  Therefore  shall  they  be  dispersed,  and 
the  Lord  shall  break  down,  or  dig  up,  their  idols  or  altars, 

1  Et  una  ecclesia  parens  omnium  Christianorum. 

9  Et  si  quid  dixerint  de  Scripturis,  nequaquain  divinis  verbis,  sed  ethni- 
corum  sensibus  comparandum  est. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  171 

which  they  have  devised  out  of  their  own  hearts,  and  He  shall 
destroy  their  titles  by  which  they  are  each  called  after  their 
own  names,  and  have  imposed  their  own  names  upon  their  own 
lands,  so  as  to  be  said  to  belong  not  to  the  Church  of  Christ, 
but  to  this  man  or  that." 1 — T.  vi.  1.  ii.  Comrn.  in.  Osee,  col.  107. 

ST.  J.  CHRYSOSTOM,  G.  C. — "  To  the  Church  of  God  that 
is  at  Corinth  .  .  .  He  calls  it  the  Church  of  God,  showing 
that  it  ought  to  be  united.  For  if  it  be  of  God,  it  is  united, 
and  is  one,  not  in  Corinth  only,  but  also  in  all  the  world.  For 
the  name  of  the  Church,  is  a  name  not  of  separation,  but  of 
unity  and  concord  .  .  .  For  though  these  words  were  written 
to  the  Corinthians,  yet  does  he  also  make  mention  of  all  the 
faithful  throughout  the  whole  world,  showing  that  the  Church, 
though  dispersed  in  divers  places,  ought  to  be,  throughout  the 
whole  world,  one,a  and  much  more  that  which  is  at  Corinth. 
For  though  place  divide,  yet  does  the  Lord  bind  them  together, 
being  common  to  them  all." — T.  x.  Horn.  i.  in  Ep.  ad  Cor. 
n.  L  pp.  4,  5. 

"  If  it  were  not  right  to  call  themselves  by  the  names  of 
Paul  and  of  Apollos  and  of  Cephas,  much  less  of  any  others. 
If  under  the  teacher  and  the  first  of  the  Apostles,  and  one  that 
had  instructed  so  much  people,  it  was  not  right  to  be  enrolled, 
much  less  under  those  who  were  nothing." — Ibid.  Horn.  iii. 
n.  1,  p.  18. 

Commenting  on  1  Cor.  xii.  12 :  "  For  as  the  body  is  one  and 
hath  many  members,  &c.  Seest  thou  the  accurate  comprehen 
sion  ?  He  points  but  the  same  thing  as  both  one  and  many. 
Wherefore  also  he  adds,  striving  more  earnestly  with  the  sub- 

1  The  following  are  Jovinian's  words  as  given  by  St.  Jerome  (I.  ii.  Adv. 
Jovin.  t.  iv.):     "Spouse,  sister,   mother,   and  whatever  other  names  you 
can  fancy,  is  the  congregation  of  the  one  Church,  which  never  is  without  a 
bridegroom,  a  brother,  a  son.     She  holds  one  faith,  she  is  neither  made  an 
adulteress  by  a  variety  of  doctrines,  nor  rent  asunder  by  heresies  (unam  habet 
fidem,  nee  constupratur  dogmatum  varietate,  nee  haeresibus  scinditur).     She 
remains  a  virgin.      She  follows  the  Lamb  whithersoever  He  goeth  ;  she 
alone  knows  the  canticle  of  Christ." 

2  Mia  Etiriv  .  .  .  EV  itdGy  rtf  oinov/uiiry  .  .  .  dsinvv?  on  TTJV  Eici 
T7/5   oiKovnEvtjS    niav  dst   Eivai    EXK\T]<5i(X.v  ,   KOLITOI   rortoiS   7toA.A.oi<a 


172  UNITY 

ject  before   him,  And  all   the  members  of  that  one  body, 
whereas  they  are  many,  yet  are  one  body.     He  said  not,  '  being 
many  are  of  that  one  body,'  but  that  'the  one  body  itself  is 
many,  and  those  so  many  members  are  this  one  thing.'     If, 
therefore,  one  is  many,  and  many  are  one,  where  is  the  differ 
ence  ?  .  .  .  And  having  said  this,  and  having  clearly  demon 
strated  it  from  the  common  judgment  of  all,  he  added,  So  also 
is  Christ.     And  he  ought  to  have  said,  '  So  also  is  the  Church,' 
for  this  came  next  in  order ;  yet  he  does  not  say  this,  but  in 
stead  of  the  Church  he  puts  Christ,  carrying  the  discourse  on 
high,  and  moving  the  hearer  to  greater  shame.     But  what  he 
means  is  this :  '  So  also  is  the  body  of  Christ,  which  is  the 
Church.'     For  as  both  body  and  head  are  one  man,  so  he  de 
clared  the  Church  and  Christ  to  be  one.     Therefore  did  he  put 
Christ   instead   of  the  Church,  designating  in  this  way  His 
body.     *  As  then,'  he  says,  '  our  body  is  one  thing,  although  it 
be  composed  of  many,  so  also  in  the  Church  we  all  are  one 
thing.    Yea,  for  though  the  Church  be  composed  of  many  mem 
bers,  yet  these  many  form  one  body.'     [Having  explained  how 
by  baptism  we  are  made  one  body,  he  continues]  :  'And  why 
do  I  speak,'  says  he,  '  of  the  Jews  ?  for  even  the  gentiles,  who 
were  so  far  distant  from  us,  He  has  brought  into  the  perfectness 
of  one  body.'     Wherefore,  having  said,  We  all,  he  did  not  stop 
there,  but  added,  whether  Jews  or  gentiles,  whether  bond  or 
free  (ver.  13).     Now  if,  having  before  this  been  so  separated, 
we  have  been  united  and  become  one,  much  more  after  having 
become  one,  we  should  not  do  right  to  grieve  and  despond : 
for  the  difference  has  no  existence.     For  if  He  has  accounted 
both  gentiles  and  Jews,  both  bond  and  free,  worthy  of  the 
same  (blessings),  how,  after  having  so  deemed  them  worthy, 
should  He  divide  them,  after  having  vouchsafed  a  greater  per 
fection  of  unity  by  the  bestowal  of  His  gifts  ?"     So  he  con 
tinues  throughout  nearly  the  whole  homily.— T.  x.  Horn.  xxx. 
in  Ep.  i.  ad  Cor.  n.  1,  2,  pp.  314-316. 

Commenting  on  1  Cor.  xii.  27 :  "  As  he  had  said  the  body, 
and  the  whole  body  was,  not  the  church  of  the  Corinthians, 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  173 

but  that  which  is  everywhere  throughout  the  world,  for  this 
cause  did  he  say  in  part  ;  that  is,  the  Church  that  is  among 
you  is  a  part  of  the  Church  spread  everywhere,  and  of  the 
body  which  is  constituted  by  means  of  all  the  churches  ;  so 
that  not  only  with  each  other,  but  also  with  all  the  Church 
throughout  the  world  should  you  have  peace,  if  at  least  ye  be 
members  of  the  whole  body."  '—Ibid.  Horn,  xxxii.n.  I,  p.  333. 
"  Nothing  so  provokes  God  as  the  division  of  the  Church. 
Even  though  we  may  have  done  ten  thousand  good  things,  yet 
shall  we,  if  we  cut  to  pieces  the  fulness  of  the  Church,  suffer 
no  less  a  punishment  than  they  that  mangled  His  body.  For 
that  happened  for  the  benefit  of  the  world,  though  not  done 
with  that  intention,  but  this  has  no  advantage  in  any  case  ;  but 
much  is  the  injury.  This  do  I  say  not  to  the  governors  only, 
but  also  to  the  governed.  A  certain  holy  man  (St.  Cyprian) 
said  something  that  seems  to  be  a  bold  thing,  but  yet  he  spoke 
it  out.  Now  what  is  this  ?  He  declared,  that  not  even  the 
blood  of  martyrdom  was  able  to  blot  out  this  sin.  .  .  .  Let 
these  remarks  be  for  those  who  give  themselves  up  indiscrimi 
nately  to  those  that  rend  the  Church.  For  if  they  have  doc 
trines  also  opposed  (to  ours),  even  for  this  cause  it  was  not  fit 
ting  to  be  mixed  up  with  them  ;  whereas  if  they  hold  the  same 
opinions,  the  reason  is  much  stronger.  Why  so  ?  Because 
the  disease  is  that  of  lust  of  power.  Know  you  not  what 
Core,  Dathan  and  Abiron  suffered  ?  What  they  alone  ?  Kather 
is  it  not  what  they  also  who  were  with  them  ?  What  sayest  thou  ? 
'  The  faith  is  the  same,  these  men  also  are  orthodox.'  Why, 
then,  are  they  not  with  us  ?  One  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism. 
If  their  cause  is  good,  ours  is  evil  ;  but  if  ours  is  good,  theirs 
is  evil.  Children,  says  he,  tossed  to  and  fro,  and  carried 
about  by  every  wind  of  doctrine.  Tell  me,  think  ye  that  this 
suffices,  to  say,  that  they  are  orthodox  ;  and  has  then  the  or 
dination  passed  away,2  and  perished?  And  what  is  the  ad- 


1  77  £HHXrj(5ia  f}  itap>  vjuir  nspot  k6rl 

.   .  EL  ye  TCOLVTO^  edrs  neXrj  TOV 

2  Td  n??  xeipororiaS  de 


174  UNITY 

vantage  of  the  rest,  if  this  be  not  accurately  observed.  For 
as  for  the  faith,  so  also  for  this  must  we  contend.  Since,  if  it 
is  lawful  for  each  one  to  fill  his  hands,  according  to  the 
phrase  of  those  of  old,  and  to  become  priests,  let  all  approach  ; 
in  vain  has  this  altar  been  built,  in  vain  the  fulness  of  the 
Church,  in  vain  the  number  of  the  priests.  .  .  .  Wherefore  do 
I  declare  and  testify,  that  the  making  a  schism  in  the  Church 
is  not  a  less  evil  than  the  falling  into  heresy.1  [So  he  con 
tinues  throughout  the  homily.]"  —  T.  xi.  Horn.  xi.  in  Ep.  ad 
Ephes.  n.  3,  4,  5,  pp.  96,  99-101. 

ST.  GAUDENTIUS  OF  BRESCIA,  L.  C.  —  "  It  is  certain  that  all 
the  men  of  that  age  perished  in  the  deluge,  save  those  who 
were  found  worthy  to  be  within  the  ark,  which  was  a  type  of 
the  Church.  For  in  like  manner  also  now,  they  cannot  be 
anywise  saved  who  are  aliens  from  the  apostolic  faith,  and  from 
the  Catholic  Church."  3  —  Serm.  viii.  De  Led.  Evang.  p.  955, 
t.  v.  Bib.  Max.  PP. 

CENTURY    V. 

ST.  AUGUSTINE,  L.  C.  —  "  If  the  Church  should  address  you 
(Donatists)  gently,  and  say,  4  Oh  my  children,  what  complaint 
do  you  bring  against  your  mother  ?  I  wish  now  to  hear  from 
you  why  you  have  deserted  me.  You  accuse  your  brethren, 
and  I  am  sorely  lacerated.  When  the  Gentiles  persecuted  me, 
I  endured  many  things  in  grief;  many  abandoned  me,  but 
they  did  it  through  fear  ;  but  no  one  has  compelled  you  to 
rebel  against  me  thus.  You  say  that  you  are  with  me,  but  you 
see  that  it  is  false.  I  am  called  the  Catholic  Church,  and  you 
are  on  the  side  of  Donatus."1  —  T.  ix.  Psal.  Contr.  part. 
Donat.  col.  51. 

u  These  testimonies  do  we  produce  from  the  holy  Scriptures, 
that  it  may  be  seen  that  it  is  not  easy  for  anything  to  be  more 


1  Tov  etS  aipe6iv  kunEGiiv  TO  rrjv  kn-K.\r^6iav  6xi6ai  OVK 

uanov. 

•  Nam   similiter  etiam   nunc  omnino   salvi   esse   non  poterunt,  qui  ab 
apostolica  fide  et  ab  ecclesia  Catholica  fuerint  alieni. 

3  Dicitis  niecum  vos  esse,  sed  falsura  videtis  esse. 
Ego  Catholica  dicor,  et  vos  de  Donati  parte. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  175 

grievous  than  the  sacrilege  of  schism  :  because  there  is  no  just 
necessity  for  severing  unity,1  since  the  good  may  therefore 
tolerate  the  wicked,  who  will  be  of  no  spiritual  injury  to  them, 
lest  they  be  themselves  spiritually  separated  from  the  good, 
when  the  consideration  of  preserving  peace  restrains  or  delays 
the  severity  of  discipline ;  a  severity  however  which  a  state  of 
safety  brings  out,  when  it  is  seen  that  something  may,  by  eccle 
siastical  judgment,  be  subjected  to  wholesome  correction,  with 
out  the  wound  of  schism." — Ib.  Lib.  ii.  Contr.  Ep.  Parme- 
niani,  n.  25,  p.  103.  See  also  Ib.  L.  iii.  n.  27,  2S,jpp.  146, 147, 
given  under  "  Visibility" 

"The  Apostle  says,  If  I  have  faith  so  that  I  could  remove 
mountains,  &c.  (1  Cor.  xiii.  2).  We  have,  therefore,  to  in 
quire  here,  who  has  charity :  you  will  find  it  is  they  alone  who 
love  unity.3  .  .  .  And  as  we  are  inquiring  where  the  Church 
of  Christ  is,  let  us  hear  Him,  who  redeemed  it  with  His  own 
blood,  declaring,  You  shall  be  witnesses  unto  me  in  Jerusalem, 
and  in  all  Judcea,  and  Samaria,  and  even  to  the  uttermost 
part  of  the  earth  (Acts  i.  8).  With  this  Church  which  is 
diffused  throughout  the  whole  earth,  whoso  communicates  not, 
with  whom  he  communicates  not  thou  seest,3  if  thou  dost  but 
understand  whose  words  these  are.  But  what  is  more  mad 
than  to  be  partakers  of  the  sacraments  of  the  Lord,  and  not  to 
be  partakers  of  the  words  of  the  Lord  ?  These  in  truth  will 
have  to  say,  <  In  Thy  name  have  we  eaten  and  drunk  ; '  and 
they  will  have  to  hear,  I  know  you  not  :  they  eat  and  drink 
His  body  and  blood  in  the  sacrament,  and  they  recognize  not  in 
the  gospel,  His  members  diffused  over  the  whole  world,  and 
for  this  cause  they  are  not  numbered  amongst  them  at  the  judg 
ment."—  Ib.  L.  ii.  Contr.  Litter.  Petiliani,  n.  126,  p.  413,  414. 

"  The  question  between  us  undoubtedly  is,  where  is  the 

1  Facile  non  esse  quidquam  gravius  sacrilegio  schismatis  :   quia  prae- 
cidendas  unitatis  nulla  est  justa  necessitas. 

2  Quis  habeat  charitatem  :  invenies  non  esse  nisi  eos  qui  diligunt  uni- 
tatem. 

3  Huic  ecclesiae,   quae  per  totam  terram  diffunditur,  quisquis  non  com- 
municat,  cui  non  communicet  vides. 


176  UNITY 

Church  ?  whether  with  us  or  with  them  (Donatists)  ?  That 
Church  assuredly  is  one,  which  our  ancestors  called  the  Catho 
lic,  that  they  might  show,  by  the  name  itself,  that  it  is  through 
out  the  whole.1  For  throughout  (or,  according  to)  the  whole 
is  expressed  in  Greek  by  xaO'oXor.  But  this  Church  is  the 
body  of  Christ,  as  the  Apostle  says,  For  His  body,  which  is  the 
Church  (Coloss.  i.  2±).  Whence,  assuredly,  it  is  manifest,  that 
he  who  is  not  in  the  members  of  Christ  cannot  have  Christian 
salvation.3  Now  the  members  of  Christ  are  united  to  each  other 
by  the  charity  of  unity,  and,  by  the  same,  cohere  to  their  own 
head,  which  is  Christ  Jesus." — Ib.  De  Unitate  Ecclesim,  n.  2, 
pp.  538,  539. 

The  writings  of  this  father,  those  especially  against  the  Do 
natists,  are  replete  with  argument  in  support  of  the  unity  of 
the  Church.  To  understand  clearly  the  grounds  taken  by 
either  party  on  this  head,  see  especially  the  "  Collatio  Cartha- 
ginensis"  t.  ix. 

ST.  CHROMATIUS,  L.  C.3 — ^Blessed  are  the  peace-makers,  for 
they  shall  be  called  the  children  of  God.  The  peace-makers  are 
they  who,  keeping  aloof  from  the  scandal  of  dissension  and 
discord,  preserve  the  love  of  brotherly  charity,  and  the  peace 
of  the  Church,  under  the  unity  of  the  Catholic  faith ;  a  peace 
which  the  Lord  in  the  Gospel  especially  commends  to  His  dis 
ciples  to  keep,  saying,  Peace  I  leave  you,  my  peace  I  give  unto 
you  •  a  peace  which  David  of  old  testified  that  the  Lord  would 
bestow  upon  the  Church  (Ps.  Ixxxiv.)  .  .  .  For  there  is  not 
anything  so  necessary  to  God's  servants,  so  salutary  to  the 
Church,  as  to  keep  charity  and  to  love  peace,  without  which 
the  Apostle  says  (writing)  to  the  Hebrews,  that  no  man  can  see 

1  Quae  utique  una  est,  quam  majores  nostri  Catholicara  nominarunt,  ut 
ex  ipso  nomine  ostenderent,  quia  per  totum  est. 

2  Manifestura   est,    eum  qui   non  est  in   membris  Christi,  christianam 
salutem  habere  non  posse.     See  the  meaning  of   "Catholic"  more  fully 
treated  of  under  "Visibility,"  from  Ibid.  1.  ii.  Contr.  Lit.  Petil.  n.  90,  p. 
400-1. 

3  Bishop  of  Aquileja,  in  which  see  he  succeeded  Valerian  in  the  year  387; 
he  was  the  friend  of  St.  Ambrose  and  of  St.  Jerome ;  he  died  about  the  year 
40G.     The  edition  used  is  that  given  by  Gallandius,  t.  viii.  Bibl.  Vet.  PP. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  177 

God.  Wherefore,  it  behooves  us  with  all  zeal  and  diligence  to 
keep  the  peace  of  the  Church,  and  to  bring  back,  as  far  as  in 
us  lies,  from  zeal  for  peace  and  the  faith,  those  who  dissent 
from  peace,1  unto  the  love  of  the  Church ;  following  in  this 
the  prophet,  who  saitli,  With  them  that  hated  peace  [  was 
peaceful."— Gotland,  t.  viii.  Tract,  in  Matt.  n.  1,pp.  336,337. 

PAULUS  OROSIUS,  L.  C. — "  God,  who  is  one,  delivered  one 
faith,  spread  one  Church  over  the  whole  world :  this  Church 
He  regards,  this  He  loves,  this  He  defends.  Let  a  man  hide 
himself  under  whatever  name  he  pleases,  if  he  be  not  asso 
ciated  with  this  Church,  he  is  an  alien ;  if  he  assail  it,  he  is  an 
enemy."2— Ilistor.  1.  vii.  c.  33,  p.  4-13,  t.  vi.  Bib.  Maxim. 
SS.  PP. 

"  We  are  all  brethren,  and  one  body  in  Christ,  under  one 
head  which  is  Christ,  and  under  one  Church,  which  is  Christ."  3 
— De  Libert.  Arbitr.  2b.  p.  457. 

ST.  PROSPER  OF  AQUITAINE,  L.  C. — "  Bless  the  Lord,  0  my 
soul  (Ps.  ciii.  1).  As  in  the  preceding  psalm,  so  also  in  this, 
which  follows  it,  the  voice  is  that  of  the  members  of  Christ. 
It  is  one  individual,  with  one  heart  and  one  soul,  in  one  faith, 
moving  and  exciting  itself  to  praise  God." — In  Ps.  ciii.  col. 
382.  See  a  similar  passage,  Ib.  in  Ps.  cii.  col.  378. 

"  By  the  animals  of  every  kind  gathered  together  in  the  ark 
of  Noah,  and  by  the  vessel,  seen  in  Peter's  vision,  let  down  from 
heaven  by  four  cords,  filled  with  all  manner  of  living  things, 
nothing  else  is  signified  but  that  men  from  out  the  whole  human 
race  are  to  be  gathered  together  in  the  unity  of  the  Church. "- 
Ib.  col.  386. 

"  0  Lord,  1  am  thy  servant ;  I  thy  servant  and  the  son  of 
thy  handmaid  (Ps.  cxv.  16).  As  if  he  said,  many  call  them 
selves  martyrs,  many  profess  themselves  Thy  servants,  because 

1  Qui  a  pace  dissentiunt. 

2  Unus  Deus  unam  fidem  tradidit,  unam  ecclesiam  toto  orbe  diffudit  ; 
hanc  aspicit,  hanc  diligit,  hanc  defendit.    Quolibet  se  quisque  nomine  tegat, 
si  huic  non  sociatur,  alienus ;  si  hanc  impugnat,  inimicus  est. 

3  Nos  enim  sub  uno  capite,  quod  est  Christus,  et  sub  una  ecclesia,  quse 
est  Christus,  omnes  fratres  sumus,  et  unum  corpus  in  Christo. 


178  UNITY 

they  have  Thy  name,  in  the  midst  of  vices,  heresies,  and  errors. 
But  because  they  are  without  Thy  Church,  they  are  not  the 
ffons  of  Thy  handmaid" — In  Ps.  cxv.  col.  430.  See  also  In 
Ps.  cxvii.  col.  432.  In  Ps.  cxxvi.  col.  474. 

"  These  men  withdrawing,  through  pride,  from  the  unity  of 
the  Church — who,  as  though  scandalized  by  the  mixture  of  chaif 
abandon  the  wheat  before  the  fan  of  separation — shall  receive 
their  cities  in  vain  (Ps.  cxviii.  20) ;  that  is,  they  shall  assemble 
together  into  a  reprobate  fellowship,  and  into  vain  councils ; 
for  whoso  uses  not  Catholic  charity,  is  scattered  by  heretical 
vanity."  ' — In  I's.  cxviii.  col.  502. 

PRESBYTER  OF  AFRICA,  L.  C.3 — "  The  authority  of  the  Gos 
pel  tells  us  of  His  garment,  woven  from  the  top,  that  was 
taken  from  Him  ;  this  even  the  soldiers  would  not  divide, 
confirming  the  unity  of  the  Church,  from  whose  lot  heretics 
are  excluded ;  for  it  happened  by  lot  that  one,  that  is,  unity, 
should  have  it." — De  Promis.  et  Predict,  c.  xxvi.  p.  109.  For 
a  similar  passage,  see  Ibid.  P.  iii.  Prom,  xxiii.  pp.  178,  179. 

Depart  from  me  you  that  work  iniquity  (Matt,  vii.)  For 
it  is  iniquity  to  rend  unity,  tearing  as  it  were  the  garment  of 
Christ,  and  the  nets,  as  it  were,  of  the  fishermen,  the  Apos 
tles  :  from  whose  fellowship  all  heretics  are  aliens ;  who,  the 
peace  of  one  communion  and  of  one  bread  of  God  and  of  the 
Apostles,  left,  preach  in  their,  not  churches,  but  streets ;  and 
do  not  communicate  in  their  memories  (or,  in  places  dedicated 
to  their  memories) :  separated  from  the  whole,  they  give 
themselves  the  Catholic  name :  whereas,  in  Jerusalem,  James, 
and  Stephen,  the  first  martyr ;  at  Ephesus,  John ;  Andrew 
and  others,  in  various  parts  of  Asia ;  in  the  city  of  Home, 
the  Apostles  Peter  and  Paul,  delivering  to  their  posterity  the 
church  of  the  Gentiles  (in  which  they  taught  the  doctrine  of 

1  Qui  caritate  Catholica  non  utitur,  hapretica  vanitate  dispergitur. 

2  The  work  entitled  " De,  Promissionibus  et  Prifdictionibus  Dei"  is  as 
signed  by  many  critics  to  St.  Prosper  of  Aquitaine,  but  it  is  in  reality  by  an 
African  priest  who  wrote  towards  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century.     See  the 
Monitum,  pp.  86,  87,  in  the  edition  of  St.    Prosper's  works,  where  the 
treatise  is  given. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  179 

Christ  our  Lord),  at  peace,  and  one1 — hallowed  it  with  their 
blood." — Ibid.  Dimid.  Temp.  c.  iv.  p.  192. 

ST.  NILUS,  G.  C.2 — "  Concerning  the  intellectual  Jerusalem, 
that  is,  the  Church,  it  is  written,  Whose  participation  is  of 
the  same  thing  (Ps.  cxxi.)  For  all  believers  being  one  body 
and  one  spirit,  one  city  in  conversation,  coming  together  unto 
the  same  place  (or,  agreeing  in  the  same  thing),  in  the  bond  of 
peace  and  of  love,  we  partake  in  unanimity  of  the  gifts  of 
the  Holy  Ghost."— L.  i.  Epist.  cclviii. p.  97. 

"  But  /,  as  a  fruitful  olive-tree  in  the  house  of  the  Lord 
(Ps.  1L),  have  never  been  stripped  of  blessed  hope.  Where 
fore,  let  us  be  a  fruitful  olive-tree,  not  in  any  other  place — 
not  in  Gentilism,  not  in  Judaism,  not  in  an  evil  heresy, — but 
in  the  house  of  God,  that  is,  in  faith  and  godliness  ;  for  the 
ungodly  in  vain  bring  forth  fruits  without  the  Church."— L. 
iii.  Ep.  xxviii  p.  304. 

ZACCH^US,  L.  C.3 — "These  heretics,  abandoning  the  apos 
tolic  tradition,  have  followed  teachers  of  a  false  faith  (perfidy), 
and  have,  with  the  doctrines,  changed  the  name  of  religion. 
For  just  as  each  of  them  took  it  into  his  fancy  to  lead  astray 
the  ignorant  by  his  deceits  and  by  this  crime  to  gain  honor  for 
himself,  was  God  taught  to  be  believed  in  part,  or  to  be  to 
tally  denied  :  besides  this,  they  called  after  their  own  names 
men  who  previously  bore  the  name  of  Christ,  that  thus  they 

1  Iniquitasest  scindere  unitatem  .  .  .  relicta  pace  communionis  et  panis 
unius  Dei  et  Apostolorum,  in  suis  non  ecclesiis,  sed  plateis  predicant,  et 
eorum  memoriis  non  communicant,  separati  a  toto  Catholicum  sibi  nomen 
adsciscunt  .  .  .  pacatam  unamque  suis  posteris  tradentes. 

2  St.  Nilus  had  for  his  master  the  great  St.  Chrysostom,  of  whom  lie  fre 
quently  makes  mention.     He  flourished  under  the  emperors  Arcadius  and 
Theodosius,  and  died  about  the  year  451.      The  edition  of  his  letters  used 
is  that  by  Allatius,  Roma?,   1668  ;  of   his  treatises,  that  by  J.  M.  Suarez, 
Romae,  1673. 

3  Zacchaeus  is  but  a  feigned  name  under  which  the  writer  defends  Chris 
tianity.      His  real  name  seems  to  be  Evagrius,  who  flourished  early  in  the 
fourth  century,  and  is  the  author  of  a  treatise,— similar  in  style  and  in  the 
handling,  to  the  one   quoted  from   here,— entitled   "  Alter 'catio   Simonis 
Judcei  et    Theophili   Christiani"  (Gennad.  De    Vir.   Illus.    c.  50).     Gal- 
landius,  t.  ix.  (Proleg.  c.  vi.  pp.  xiv-xvii.),  and  before  him  Tillemont,  are  of 
opinion  that  both  these  pieces  are  by  the  same  author. 


180  UNITY 

who,  after  abandoning  the  name  of  Christ,  took  the  name  of 
their  religion  from  a  man,  might  in  no  particular  be  free  from, 
sacrilege.  For  what  difference  does  it  make  whether  a  man, 
who  ceases  to  be  called  a  Christian,  take  his  designation  from 
an  idol  or  from  a  man  ?  Accordingly,  each  heresy  is  now  desig 
nated  by  the  name  of  the  individual  through  whom  as  its 
author  it  prevaricated ;  and  to  such  a  degree  are  they  pleased 
with  their  peculiar  nomenclature,  as  not  even  by  this  to  per 
ceive  that  they  are  cut  off  from  the  unity  of  religion,  though 
even  in  name  they  have  lost  the  faith.1  Hence,  from  Manes, 
the  Manichees,  &c.  .  .  .  They  cease  not  to  assail  the  Church 
and  Christ.  But  as  nothing  is  ever  stronger  than  truth,  the 
mighty  ponderous  mass  remains  immovable  in  the  midst  of 
the  assaulting  waves,  which  break  tormented  with  their  mu 
tual  violence ;  and  the  purpose  of  these  apostates  merely  at 
tains  to  this,  that  differing  as  they  do  from  each  other,  while 
each  desires  to  destroy  our  faith,  they  as  a  whole  establish  it."  ' 
—L.  ii.  Consult.  Zacc.  et  Apollon.  c.  xi.  Galland.  t.  ix.  p.  231. 

ST.  CYRIL  OF  ALEXANDRIA,  G.  C. — "  Therefore  do  we  say 
that  the  mystery  of  Christ  must  be  celebrated  in  the  churches 
of  God,  as  in  holy  tabernacles.  .  .  .  In  one  house  shall  it  be 
eaten,  neither  shall  ye  carry  forth  of  the  flesh  thereof  out  of 
the  house  (Ex.  xii.)  The  many-minded  heretics  violate  this 
will  of  God,  fixing  up  for  themselves,  as  they  do,  another  tab 
ernacle,  besides  that  which  is  truly  the  holy  tabernacle,  and 
sacrificing  the  lamb  without,  and  carrying  it  forth  somewhere 
to  a  very  great  distance  from  that  one  house,  and  dividing  the 
indivisible.3  For  Christ  is  one,  and  perfect  in  all." — T.  i.  I.  x. 
De  Ador.  in  Sj).  et  Ver.  p.  355.  See  a  similar  passage  un 
der  the  head  "  Sacrifice"  from  the  same  treatise,  t.  xiii.  p.  474. 

Applying  Lev.  xvii.  3  :  "It  is  therefore  unlawful  and  a  pro 
fanation,  and  an  act  the  punishment  of  which  is  death,  to  love 

1  Bt  in  tantum  proprietate  nominis  delectantur,  ut  nee  sic  quidera  intelli- 
gant  se  ab  imitate  religionis  abscisses,  quod  fidem  etiam  in  nomine  perdiderunt. 

2  A  se  invicem  discrepantes,  fidera  nostram  dum  destruere  singuli  cupiunt, 
adstruunt  universi.     This  argument  he  handles  very  dexterously. 

3  TOV  a^epidror. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  181 

to  associate  with  unhallowed  heretics,  and  to  unite  one's  self 
to  their  communion ;  for  they  sacrifice  out  of  the  holy  taber 
nacle  the  victim  which  is  offered  for  sins,  and  do  not  perform 
the  sacred  sacrifice  within  the  holy  places.  For  the  Church  is 
one,  even  as  there  was  also  one  tabernacle  of  old,  and  one 
tabernacle  which  pointed  out  in  a  type  the  beauty  of  the 
Church."— T.  i.  Glaphyr.  in  Lev.  1.  i.  p.  551.  See  also  a 
similar  passage  in  t.  iii.  Comm.  in  Osee,  p.  124,  B.  C. 

"  Wherefore,  as  some  beginning  and  way  whereby  we  also 
might  be  partakers  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  of  union  with  God, 
there  was  the  mystery  of  Christ ;  for  we  are  all  therein  sanc 
tified,  after  the  manner  that  has  tieen  already  explained. 
Whence  that  we  may  have  union  with  God  and  with  each 
other,  and  be  thoroughly  blended  together — though  kept  dis 
tinct  by  that  separation  which  is  seen  in  our  individual  bodies 
and  souls — the  only-begotten  Son  contrived  a  certain  way, 
which  was  invented  by  that  wisdom  which  befits  Him,  and  by 
the  will  of  the  Father.  For,  by  means  of  the  mystic  partici 
pation,  blessing  those  who  believe  in  Him  with  one  body,  His 
own,  to  wit,1  He  makes  them  one  body  with  Himself,  and 
with  each  other."— T7.  iv.  Comm.  in  Joan.  I.  xi.p.  998. 

THEODORET,  G.  C. — "  One  indeed  is  the  Church  throughout 
earth  and  sea,"  &c.,  as  given  under  "  Authority"  pp.  95,  96. 

Commenting  on  1  Cor.  i. :  To  the  Church  of  God  which 
is  at  Corinth,  &c.,  "  all  the  words  here  set  down  are  remedies 
for  that  under  which  they  suffered,  for  they  reconcile  that  di 
vision  which  had  miserably  taken  place.  And  first  of  all  he 
calls  them  one  Church,  and  the  Church  of  God,  and  adds,  in 
Christ  Jesus,  not  in  this  or  that  other  individual.  He  like 
wise  calls  them  both  elect  and  saints,  and  joins  them  with 
those  who  had  believed  throughout  the  universe:  teaching, 
that  not  only  they  ought  to  think  alike,  but  that  all  they  also 
who  have  believed  the  Gospel,  have  one  mind,  as  having  been 
perfected  in  the  body  of  Christ  our  Lord."— T7.  iii.  m  Ep.  ad 
Cor.  c.  \.pp.  165,  166. 

1  lEvl 


182  UNITY 

CASSIAN,  L.  C.— "  By  denying  Jesus  Christ,  the  only  Son  of 
God,  you  have  denied  all  the  rest.  For  this  is  the  nature  of 
the  sacrament  of  the  Church  and  of  the  Catholic  faith,  that 
the  man  who  denies  a  part  of  the  divine  sacrament  is  disabled 
from  confessing  other  part.  For  the  whole  is  so  connected 
and  incorporated  together,  that  one  part  cannot  stand  without 
the  other ;  and  whoso  has  denied  one  point  out  of  the  whole, 
it  profits  him  nothing  to  have  believed  all  the  rest."— L.  vi. 
De  Incarn.  t.  vii.p.  92,  Bib.  Max.  SS.  PP. 

ST.  XISTUS  III.,  POPE,  L.  C.1— "  Wherefore,  because  the 
faith,  as  the  Apostle  says,  is  one,  that  faith  which  has  trium 
phantly  prevailed,  let  us  believe  what  it  behooves  us  to  teach, 
and  teach  what  it  behooves  us  to  hold.  Let  nothing  further  be 
allowed  to  novelty,  because  it  is  fitting  that  nothing  be  added 
to  antiquity.8  Let  not  the  belief  of  our  ancestors  be  troubled 

>  He  succeeded  St.  Celestine  L,  in  432,  and  died  in  440.     The  edition 
used  is  that  given  by  Gallandius,  t.  ix.,  after  Constant. 

8  Nihil  ultra  liceat  novitati:  quia  nihil  adjici  convenit  vetustati.  This 
passage  is  quoted  as  follows  by  Vincentius  of  Lerins:— "  Lest  aught  should 
seem  wanting  to  so  plentiful  proofs,  we  will  add  for  a  conclusion  a  twofold 
authority  of  the  apostolic  see,  the  one,  to  wit,  of  holy  Pope  Sixtus,  which 
venerable  man  now  adorns  the  Roman  Church,  the  other  of  his  predecessor, 
Pope  GVlestinus,  of  blessed  memory,  which  (other)  I  have  judged  it  neces 
sary  here  also  to  insert.  The  holy  Pope  Sixtus,  then,  says,  in  the  epistle 
which  he  sent  to  the  bishop  of  Antioch  touching  the  cause  of  Nestorms: 
•Therefore  '  says  he,  'because,  as  the  Apostle  says,  the  faith  is  that  which 
has  evidently  obtained,  what  things  are  to  be  said,  let  us  believe,  and  what 
things  are  to  be  holden,  let  us  believe.'  What  then  are  these  things  which 
are  to  be  believed  and  to  be  said?  He  continues  and  says,  'Let  nothing 
further  '  saith  he,  '  be  allowed  to  novelty,  because  it  is  fitting  that  nothing 
be  added  to  antiquity.  Let  not  the  clear  faith  and  belief  of  our  ancestors 
be  troubled  by  any  admixture  of  mire.'  Apostolically  spoken  indeed! 
tribute  to  the  faith  of  our  forefathers  the  light  of  transparency,  but  to 
denote  novel  profaneness  by  the  admixture  of  filth.  But  holy  Pope  Cales- 
tinus  speaks  in  like  manner,  and  is  of  the  same  sentiment:  for  in  the  epis 
which  he  sent  to  the  priests  of  Gaul,  wherein  he  reprehends  their  conni 
vance  in  that  by  their  silence  they  left  the  old  faith  unprotected,  and  suf 
fered  profane  novelties  to  spring  up,  he  says:  'Justly  does  this  blame  touch 
us  '  he  saith  '  if  by  silence  we  foster  error;  therefore  let  such  men  be  c 
rected  let  them  not  have  liberty  to  speak  at  their  pleasure  (non  sit  us  libe- 
rum  habere  pro  voluntate  sermonem).'  Here  some  haply  may  question,  who 
they  be  whom  he  forbids  to  have  liberty  to  speak  at  their  pleasure,  wheth 
the  preachers  of  antiquity  or  the  inventors  of  novelty.  Let  him  speak,  ai 
himself  discharge  this  doubt  of  the  reader,  for  it  followeth:  'Let  novelty 


OP  THE  CHURCH.  183 

by  any  admixture  of  filth."— Ep.  viii.  ad  Joan.  Antioch.  n.  7, 
t.  ix.  Gotland,  p.  529. 

YINCENTIUS  OF  LEKiNs,  L.  C.— The  context  of  the  following 
will  be  found  under  «  Tradition."     «  From  the  truth-teaching 
unity  of  which  Fathers,  that  none  dissent,  the  same  Apostle 
very  earnestly  entreats,  saying  :  But  1  beseech  you,  brethren, 
that  you  all  speak  the  same  thing,  and  that  there  be  no  schisms 
among  you,  but  be  you  perfect,  in  the  same  mind,  and  in  the 
same  judgment  (1  Cor.  i.)     But  if  any  separate  from  the  com 
munion  of  the  judgment  of  those  men,  let  him  hear  that  of 
the  same  Apostle,  He  is  not  the  God  of  dissension,  but  of 
peace;  that  is,  not  the  God  of  him  who  falls  away  from  the 
unity  of  consent,  but  of  those  who  abide  in  the  peace  of  con 
sent,1— As  I  teach,  saith  he,  in  all  the  churches  of  the  Saints, 
that  is,  of  the  Catholics  ;  which  (churches)  are  therefore  saintly, 
because  they  persevere  in  the  communion  of  the  faith.     And 
lest  any  should,  haply,  overlooking  the  rest,  arrogate  to  him 
self  that  he  alone  be  heard,  he  alone  be  believed,  he  adds  a 
little  after,  Did  the  Word  of  God  come  out  from  you  f  or 
came  it  only  unto  you  f  (1  Cor.  xiv.)     And  lest  this  might 
be  taken,  as  it  were,  slightly,  he  added  :  If  any,  he  says,  seem 
to  be  a  prophet,  or  spiritual,  let  him  know  the  things  that  I 
write  to  you,  that  they  are  the  commandments  of  the  Lord. 
What  commandments  indeed,  but  that  if  any  man  be  a  prophet, 
or  spiritual,  that  is,  a  teacher  of  spiritual  things,  let  him  be, 
with  the  utmost  zeal,  a  cultivator  of  equality  and  unity,  so 
that,  to  wit,  he  neither  prefer  his  own  opinions  before  others, 
nor  recede  from  the  sentiments  of  all  men.     The  command 
ments  of  which  things  whoso  /knows  not,  he  says,  he  shall  not 
be  known;  that  is,  he  who  learns  not  when  he  knoweth  them 

cease,  if  the  matter  be  so,'  that  is,  if  that  be  true,  as  divers  accuse  unto  me 
your  cities  and  provinces,  that  through  your  pernicious  connivance  you 
cause  them  to  consent  to  certain  novelties.  'Therefore,'  saith  he,  'if  the 
matter  be  so,  let  novelty  cease  to  molest  antiquity '  (desinat  .  .  .  incessare 
novitas  vetustatem)."— Adv.  Seer.  n.  xxxii. 

1  Non  ejus,  qui  a  consentiendi  unitate  defecerit,  sed  eorum  qui  in  con- 
sentiendi  pace  permanserint. 


184 

not,  or  contemns  them  when  known,  he  shall  not  be  known, 
that  is,  he  shall  be  held  unworthy  to  be  one  regarded  of 
God  amongst  those  united  by  faith,  and  equalled  by  humility; 
than  which  evil  I  know  not  whether  anything  can  be  conceived 
more  grievous."—  Comm.  ad  Hceres.  n.  xxviii. 

ST.  LEO  L,  POPE,  L.  C.— "  Although  the  universal  Church 
of  God  be  ordered  with  distinct  ranks,  that  so  the  integrity  of 
the  sacred  body  may  subsist  of  divers  members,  yet  all  we, 
as  the  Apostle  says,  are  one  (body)  in  Christ.  Neither  is 
any  one  so  divided  from  the  office  of  another,  as  that  the  low 
liness  of  any  part  soever  should  cease  to  pertain  to  the  con 
nection  of  the  head.  In  unity,  therefore,  of  faith  and  baptism, 
is  our  fellowship  undivided."—  T.  i.  Serm.  iv.  De  Natali. 

ordin.  c.  ^,pp>  14,  15. 

"A  great  safeguard  is  entire   faith,  true   faith,  in   which 
neither  anything  whatever  can  be  added  by  any  one,  nor  any 
thing  taken  away :  for  unless  faith  be  one,  it  is  not  faith,1  the 
Apostle  saying,  One  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism  .  .  .  in  us 
all  (Ephes.  iv.  4-6).     To  this  unity,  my  beloved,  adhere  with 
unshaken  minds  ;  and  in  HUB  pursue  all  holiness,  in  this  obey 
the  precept  of  the  Lord,  because  without  faith  it  is  impossible 
to  please  God :  and  without  it  there  is  nothing  holy,  nothing 
pure,  nothing  living,  for  the  just  man  lives  by  faith  ;  which 
(faith)  whoso,  deceived  by  the  devil,  shall  have  lost,  while  liv 
ing  he  is  dead."— Ib.  Serm.  xxiv.  In  Nativ.  Dom.  iv.  c.  6,p.  82. 
"  Wherefore,  as,  out  of  the  Catholic  Church,  there  is  nothing 
perfect,  nothing  undefiled,  the  Apostle  declaring  that  all  that 
is  not  of  faith  is  sin,  with  those  who  are  divided  from  the 
unity  of  the  body  of  Christ  we  are  in  no  way  likened,  we  are 
by  no  communion  commingled  ; *  which  in  fact  is  for  us  the 
fast,  the  most  salutary  and  the  most  important.     For  there  is 
nothing  which  more  primarily  pertains  to  the  virtue  of  absti- 

1  Nisi  una  est,  fides  non  est. 

9  Extra  ecclesiara  Catholicam  nihil  est  integrum,  nihil  castum  .  .  .  cum 
divisis  ab  unitate  corporis  Christi  nulla  similitudine  comparamur,  nulla 
coraraunione  miscemur. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  185 

nence,  than  to  abstain  from  error,  because  then  do  we  at  length 
walk  well,  when  we  journey  in  the  way  of  truth." — T.  1,  Serm. 
cxxix.  De  Jejun.  Pent.  ii.  c.  2,  p.  317. 

"  The  whole  world  shares  in  all  the  holy  solemnities,  and 
the  piety  of  one  faith  demands  that  whatsoever  is  commemo 
rated  as  having  done  for  the  salvation  of  all,  be  celebrated 
with  joy  by  all.  Yet  is  this  day's  festival  (St.  Peter  and  St. 
Paul),  besides  that  reverence  which  it  has  deserved  from  the 
whole  universe,  to  be  venerated  with  special  and  peculiar 
exultation  by  this  city,  that,  where  the  departure  (death)  of 
the  chief  Apostles  was  made  glorious,  there,  on  the  day  of 
their  martyrdom,  be  pre-eminent  gladness.  For  these,  oh 
Koine !  are  the  men  through  whom  the  Gospel  of  Christ 
shone  upon  thee,  and  thou  that  wast  the  teacher  of  error,  hast 
become  the  disciple  of  truth.  .  .  .  These  are  they  who  have 
advanced  thee  to  this  glory,  to  be  a  holy  nation,  a  chosen 
people,  a  priestly  and  royal  city ;  that  by  the  See  of  blessed 
Peter,  made  the  head  of  the  universe,  thou  mightest  rule  more 
widely  by  divine  religion,  than  by  earthly  empire.  For  al 
though,  enlarged  by  many  victories,  thou  hast  extended  thy 
right  of  empire  by  land  and  sea,  yet,  what  the  toil  of  war  has 
subdued  to  thee  is  less  than  what  Christian  peace  has  subjected 
to  thee.1  .  .  .  For  when  the  twelve  Apostles,  having  received 
through  the  Holy  Spirit  the  gift  of  speaking  in  all  tongues, 
had,  with  the  districts  of  the  world  distributed  amongst  them, 
undertaken  to  embrace  the  world  with  the  Gospel,  the  most 
blessed  Peter,  the  prince  of  the  apostolic  order,  is  assigned  to 
the  capital  of  the  Eoman  empire,  that  the  light  of  truth,  which 
was  being  manifested  for  the  salvation  of  all  nations,  might 
more  effectually  diffuse  itself  from  that  head  throughout  the 
whole  body  of  the  world.2  For  of  what  nations  were  there 
not  individuals  then  present  in  this  city  ?  or,  what  nations 

1  Per  sacram  beati  Petri  sedem  caput  orbis  effecta,   latius  prgesideres 
religione  divina,  quam   dominatione  terrena  .  .  .  minus  laraen  est  quod 
tibi  bellicus  labor  subdidit,  quam  quod  pax  Christiana  subjecit. 

2  Petrus  princeps  apostolici  ordinis  .  .  .  efficacius  se  ab  ipso  capite  per 
totum  mundi  corpus  effunderet. 


186  UNITY 

were  ever  ignorant  of  what  Rome  had  learnt  ?  " — T.  1,  Serm. 
Ixxxii.  c.  1-3  (In  Natal.  App.  Petri  et  Pauli\pp.  321-323. 

"  For  the  connection  of  our  union  cannot  be  firm,  unless  the 
bond  of  charity  bind  us  together  into  an  inseparable  solidness. 
.  .  .  The  connectedness  of  the  whole  body  produces  one 
healthfulness,  one  beauty  ;  and  this  connection  requires  indeed 
the  unanimity  of  the  whole  body,  but  demands  especially  con 
cord  amongst  priests,  whose  dignity,  though  it  be  common  to 
them  all,  yet  is  not  their  order  uniform ;  since  even  amongst 
the  most  blessed  Apostles,  in  likeness  of  honor  there  was  a  cer 
tain  diversity  of  power ;  and  whereas  the  election  of  them  all 
was  equal,  to  one,  nevertheless,  was  it  given  to  be  pre-eminent 
over  the  rest.1  Out  of  which  pattern  also  has  arisen  the  dis 
tinction  also  amongst  bishops,  and  by  a  mighty  regulation  has 
it  been  provided  against,  that  all  claim  not  all  things  to  them 
selves,  but  that  there  be  individuals  in  individual  provinces, 
whose  sentence  should  amongst  the  brethren  be  accounted  the 
first :  and  again,  that  certain  others,  constituted  in  the  greater 
cities,  should  take  upon  them  a  wider  solicitude,  through  whom 
the  universal  Church  might  flow  together  to  the  one  chair  of 
Peter,  and  no  part  be  anywhere  at  variance  with  its  head."  '— 
Ep.  xiv.  ad  Anastasium  Thessalon.  Episc.  c.  xi.  pp.  691,  692. 
See  also  Ep.  xxix.  ad  Theodos.  Aug.  p.  839. 

"  Truth,  which  is  simple  and  one,  admits  of  no  variety." ' 
Ep.  clxxii.  ad  Presby.  et  Diaconos  Eccl.  Alex.  p.  1437. 

"  Eor  I  have  espoused  you  to  one  husband,  that  I  may  pre 
sent  you  as  a  chasU  virgin  to  Christ  (2  Cor.  xi.)  For  that 
Church  is  a  virgin,  the  bride  of  one  husband  Christ,  which 
(Church)  allows  not  herself  to  be  violated  by  any  error  ;  that, 
throughout  the  whole  world  there  may  be  for  us  one  uncor- 

1  Quibus  cum  dignitas  sit  coraraunis,  non  est  tamen  ordo  generalis ; 
quoniara  et  inter  beatissiraos  apostolos  in  similitudine  honoris  fuit  qusedam 
discretio  potestatis  ;  et  cum  omnium  paresset  electio,  uni  tamen  datum  est, 
ut  caeteris  praeemineret. 

9  Per  quos  ad  unam  Petri  sedem  universalis  ecclesiae  cura  conflueret,  et 
iiiliil  usquam  a  suo  capite  dissideret. 

3  Varietatem  veritas,  quae  est  simplex  atque  una,  non  recipit. 


OF  THE  CHURCH,  187 

ruptedness  of  one  chaste  communion,1  wherein  we  embrace 
the  fellowship  of  your  friendliness." — Ib.  Ep.  Ixxx.  ad  AnatoL 
Ep.  CP.  n.  1,  p.  1039. 

COUNCIL  OF  CHALCEDON,  G.  C. — "  Our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ,  confirming  the  knowledge  of  the  faith  in  His  dis 
ciples,  said,  My  peace  I  leave  with  you,  my  peace  I  give  unto 
you  (John  xiv.),  to  the  end  that  none  may  speak  differently  from 
his  neighbor  in  the  doctrines  of  true  religion,  but  set  forth 
alike  to  all  the  preaching  of  the  truth.  But  since  the  wicked 
one  does  not  cease  from  endeavoring  by  his  tares  to  sow  over 
the  seeds  of  the  true  religion,  and  is  ever  finding  out  something 
new  against  the  truth,  for  this  cause  the  Lord,  as  is  His  wont, 
in  His  providence  for  the  human  race,  has  raised  up  to  an  (op 
posite)  zeal,  this  religious  and  most  faithful  sovereign,  and  has 
called  together  unto  Himself  the  chiefs  of  the  priesthood  from 
every  side,  in  order  that  the  charity  of  Christ,  the  Lord  of  us 
all,  operating,  they  may  remove  every  plague  of  falsehood  from 
the  sheep  of  Christ,  may  fatten  them  with  the  fruits  of  truth." 
— Ep.  Synod.  Labb.  t.  iv.  p.  562. 

GELASIUS,  POPE,  L.  C.3 — (For  the  context,  see  "Primacy  of 
the  Successors  of  St.  Peter  ").  "  That  by  this  spectacle  it  may 
be  manifest  to  all  men  that  the  Church  of  Christ  is  truly  one 
throughout  all  its  parts,  and  indivisible  ;  a  Church  which,  knit 
together  by  the  bond  of  concord,  and  the  admirable  woof  of 
charity,  might  be  shown  to  be  the  alone  coat  of  Christ,  seamless 
throughout,3  which  not  even  the  soldiers  who  crucified  Christ 
would  dare  divide.  And  if  this  unity  be  violated  and  rent, 
through  the  perfidy  of  Peter  (of  Alexandria),  and  the  tyranni 
cal  pride  and  impious  presumption  of  Acacius,  see,  and  wisely 
consider,  into  how  grave  a  danger  our  conscience  is  cast,  when 

1  Ut  per  totum  mundum  una  nobis  sit  unius  castae  communionis  in- 
tegritas. 

2  He  succeeded  Felix  III.  in  the  Papal  chair  in  the  year  492,  and  died 
in  496.     The  edition  used  is  that  by  Gallandius,  t,  x.  Bibl.  Vet.  PP.,  after 
Constant. 

3  Vere  unam  esse  per  omnia  et  indissolubilem  Christi  ecclesiara,  quae 
concordiae  vinculo  mirabilique  caritatis  textura  composita,  sola  et  indivisa 
per  totum  ostenderetur  esse  tunica  Christi. 


188  VISIBILITY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

breaking  through  so  important  an  observance  as  this  of  our 
fathers.  For  will  not  each  one  act  just  as  seems  fit  to  himself, 
if  once  a  corrupt  order  pass  into  a  custom  ?  But  if  even  the 
very  thought  of  this  is  sacrilege,  why  should  not  the  pattern 
left  us  by  our  fathers  be  adhered  to  with  the  most  scrupulous 
observance,  seeing  that  there  is  in  this  their  method  of  acting, 
the  evident  and  mighty  mystery  of  an  ineffable  and  undoubted 
unity  ?  Are  there  two  churches,  and  two  pastors  ?  God  forbid. 
For  He  is  one  who  hath  made  both  one,  removing  the  parti 
tion-wall  of  enmities,  in  His  own  body.  .  .  .  Let  not  then  the 
names  of  Peter  and  of  Acacius  be  interposed,  to  divide  those 
whom  the  precious  blood  of  so  great  a  mediator  has  united."- 
Ep.  viii.  Galland.  t.  x.  p.  G77. 

GELASIUS  CYZICENUS,  G.  C.1 — "  The  Church  of  God  is  one. 
One  is  the  Church  in  heaven,  the  same  also  upon  earth ;  in 
this  Church  the  Holy  Spirit  abides.3  The  heresies,  which  men 
hold,  that  are  without  this  Church,  are  not  the  doctrines  of 
our  Saviour,  or  of  the  Apostles,  but  are  Satan's,  and  of  their 
father  the  Devil." — Histor.  Condi.  Niccen.  c.  xxx.  p.  235. 


VISIBILITY. 


THE  CHUKCII  ALWAYS  VISIBLE. 

THE  Visibility  of  the  Church  follows  so  evidently  from  the 
promises  of  Christ,  from  the  commission  of  the  Apostles 
"  to  teach  all  nations,"  from  the  nature  of  church-government, 
and  of  the  sacraments,  and  from  the  essential  character  of  a 
divine  institution,  which  all  are  bound  to  embrace,  that  there 
can  be  no  need  of  any  lengthened  testimony  on  this  head.  An 
invisible  Church  are  words  devoid  of  meaning. 

1  He  was  living,  as  he  tells  us,  at  the  beginning  of  his  "History,"  in 
476.     The  edition  or  his  "  History  of  the  Council  of  Nicaea  "  here  used  is 
that  given  by  Labbe,  t.  ii.  Concil. 

2  Mia  rj  kuKXrjGia  kv  ovpavoT's,  rj  a-irij  xal  kni  yijs  '  zv  ravry  TO 

TO  ayiov 


VISIBILITY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  189 

SCRIPTURE. 

Isaias  ii.  2.  "  And  in  the  last  days  the  mountain  of  the 
house  of  the  Lord  shall  be  prepared  on  the  top  of  mountains, 
and  it  shall  be  exalted  above  the  hills,  and  all  nations  shall 
flow  unto  it." 

Daniel  ii.  35,  44.  "  The  stone  that  struck  the  statue  became 
a  great  mountain,  and  filled  the  whole  earth.  But  in  the  days 
of  those  kingdoms  the  God  of  heaven  will  set  up  a  kingdom 
that  shall  never  be  destroyed,  and  His  kingdom  shall  not  be 
delivered  up  to  another  people :  and  it  shall  break  in  pieces, 
and  shall  consume  all  these  kingdoms,  and  itself  shall  stand 
for  ever." 

Micheas  xiv.  1,  2.  "  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  last 
days  that  the  mountain  of  the  house  of  the  Lord  shall  be  pre 
pared  on  the  top  of  mountains,  and  high  above  the  hills,  and 
people  shall  flow  to  it.  And  many  nations  shall  come  in 
haste,  and  say :  Come,  let  us  go  up  to  the  mountain  of  the 
Lord,  and  to  the  house  of  the  God  of  Jacob  :  and  He  will  teach 
us  of  His  ways,  and  we  will  walk  in  His  paths :  for  the  law 
shall  go  forth  out  of  Sion,  and  the  Word  of  the  Lord  out  of 
Jerusalem." 

Matth.  v.  14.  "  You  are  the  light  of  the  world.  A  city 
seated  on  a  mountain  cannot  be  hid." 


THE  FATHEKS. 


CENTURY    II. 

ST.  IREN^EUS,  G.  C. — "  When  they  believed  not,  last  of  all 
He  sent  His  Son,  He  sent  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  whom  when 
the  wicked  husbandmen  had  slain,  they  cast  Him  out  of  the 
vineyard.  Wherefore  did  the  Lord  deliver  it,  now  no  longer 
fenced  round,  but  opened  to  the  whole  world,  to  other 
husbandmen,  who  give  in  the  fruits  in  their  seasons ;  the 
tower  of  election  being  exalted  everywhere,  and  beautiful  to- 


190  VISIBILITY 

look  on.     For  everywhere  is  the  Church  distinctly  visible,1  and 
everywhere  is  the  winepress  dug ;   for  everywhere  are  those 
who  receive  the  spirit."— Adv.  Howes.  1.  iv.  c.  36,  n.  2,  p.  278. 
"  All  these  (heretics)  are  very  much  later  than  the  bishops, 
to  whom  the  Apostles  delivered  the  churches,  and  this  we  have 
proved,  with  the  greatest  care,  in  the  third  book.     Wherefore, 
the  aforesaid  heretics,  because  they  are  blind  to  the  truth,  are 
under  the  necessity  of  wandering  irregularly,  first  in  one,  and 
then  in  another  path,  and  on  this  account  the  traces  of  their 
doctrines  are  scattered  without  any  uniformity  or  connection. 
But  the  pathway  of  those  who  are  in  the  Church,  circles  the 
whole  universe,  for  it  has  a  firm  tradition  from  the  Apostles, 
and  gives  us  to  see  that  the  faith  of  all  is  one  and  the  same.  .  .  . 
And,  indeed,  the  public  teaching  of  the  Church,  in  which  one 
and  the  same  way  of  salvation  is  shown  throughout  the  whole 
world,  is  true  and  firm.     For  to  this  was  entrusted  the  light  of 
God,  and  on  this  account  is  the  wisdom  of  God,  through  which 
He  saves  all  men,  proclaimed  in  the  gates  (outlets) ;  In  the 
streets  she  behaves  confidently  ;  on  the  tops  of  the  watts  she  is 
announced  ;  and  in  the  gates  of  the  city  she  speaketh  unceasing- 
It/.     For  everywhere  the  Church  preaches  the  truth,  and  this 
is  the  lamp  with  seven  branches,  bearing  the  light  of  Christ.' 
2.  "  They,  therefore,  who  abandon  the  teaching  of  the  Church, 
condemn  the  holy  presbyters  of  ignorance;  not  considering 
how  much  preferable  is  a  religious  but  untutored  man,  to  a 
blasphemous  and  impudent  sophist.     But  such  are  all  heretics, 
and  they  who  think  that  they  find  something  more  beyond  the 
truth  .  .  .  not  having  at  all  times  the  same  opinions  regarding 
the  same  matters ;  like  blind  men  they  are  led  by  the  blind, 
justly  will  they  fall  into  the  pit  of  error  which  lies  hidden 
beneath;  always  seeking  and  never  finding  the  truth.     We 
ought,  therefore,  to  fly  from  the  opinions  of  these  men,  and  to 
watch,  with  redoubled  attention,  that  we  be  not,  in  some  way, 

1  Turre  electionis  exaltata  ubique  et  speciosa.     Ubique  enim  praeclara  est 
ecclesia. 

8  Ubique  enim  ecclesia  prsedicat  veritatem:  et  haec  est  kitranv^ol  lucei 
na,  Christi  bajulans  lumen. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  191 

perplexed  by  them ;  but  (we  ought)  to  fly  unto  the  Church, 
and  in  her  bosom  to  be  brought  up,1  and  to  be  fed  with  the 
Scriptures  of  the  Lord.  For  the  Church  has  been  planted  as 
a  Paradise  in  this  world.  Of  every  tree  of  Paradise  ye  shall 
eat  the  fruits,  says  the  Spirit  of  God ;  that  is,  eat  of  every 
dominical  Scripture ;  but  upon  an  arrogant  interpretation 
(sense)  feed  not,  neither  touch  ye,  any  part  of  the  whole  here 
tical  dissension." — Adv.  Hceres.  I.  v.  c.  20,  n.  1,  2,  p.  317. 

CLEMENT  OF  ALEXANDRIA,  G.  C. — "  He  says,  by  Ezechiel, 
addressing  himself  to  the  priests,  and  laying  before  them  a 
saving  description  of  a  just  care :  /  will  bmd  up  that  which 
was  lame  ;  and  I  will  heal  that  which  was  sick  •  and  I  will 
bring  back  that  which  had  wandered ;  and  I  will  feed  them, 
upon  my  holy  mountain  (Ezech.  xxxiv.)  These  are  the  pro 
mises  of  a  good  shepherd.  Feed  us,  Thy  children,  as  sheep. 
Yea,  Lord,  fill  us  with  Thy  pasture  of  righteousness  ;  yea,  Peda 
gogue,  feed  us  on  Thy  holy  mountain,  in  the  Church,  which  is 
on  high,  above  the  clouds,  touching  the  heavens." 2 — Pcedag. 
1.  i.  c.  9,  p.  148. 

CENTURY    III. 

OKIGEN,  G.  C. — "But  if  we  read  with  Aquila,  In  my 
mountain,  the  mountain  of  Christ  is  to  be  understood  as  His 
Church,  which  is  lofty  and  raised  on  high.  To  this  mountain 
has  been  given  by  the  Father,  according  to  His  good  pleasure, 
an  unshaken  empire ;  for  the  Church  rules  as  a  queen  over 
those  who  are  left  on  earth,  and  shares  the  empire  with 
Christ."— T.  ii.  Select,  in  Ps.  xxix.p.  642. 

"  We  are  not  to  give  heed  to  those  who  say,  Behold,  here  is 
Christ,  but  show  Him  not  in  the  Church,  which  is  filled  with 
brightness  from  the  East  even  unto  the  West ;  which  is  filled 
with  true  light ;  is  the  pillar  and  ground  of  truth  /  in  which, 
as  a  whole,  is  the  whole  advent  of  the  Son  of  Man,  who  saith 
to  all  men  throughout  the  universe,  Behold,  1  am  with  you  all 

1  Confugere  autem  ad  ecclesiam,  et  in  ejus  sinu  educari. 

,  rr)v  viftov/uerrfv,  TTJV  vTtepvsqn,  rf)v 


192  VISIBILITY 

the  days  of  life  even  unto  the  consummation  of  the  world"  - 
T.  iii.  Comm.  in  Matt.  (Tr.  30)  n.  46,  p.  865.     See  other  ex 
tracts  under  "  Authority ;"  also  t.  iii.  (Tom.  xi.  in  Matt.}  p. 
507. 

ST.  HIPPOLYTUS,  G.  C.1 — "  By  the  woman  clothed  with  the 
Sun,  he  very  plainly  signified  the  Church  clothed  with  the 
Paternal  word,  more  brilliant  than  the  sun  ;  and  by  the  moon 
under  her  feet,  he  pointed  out  the  Church  adorned  with 
heavenly  brightness  like  as  the  moon ;  whilst  the  words,  and 
on  her  head  a  crown  of  twelve  stars,  designate  the  twelve 
Apostles,  by  whom  the  Church  was  founded.  And  being  with 
child,  she  cried,  travailing  in  birth,  and  was  in  pain  to  be 
delivered,  because  the  Church  will  not  cease  giving  birth  out 
of  her  heart  to  the  Word  that  is  persecuted  in  the  world  by  un 
believers.  And  she  brought  forth  a  male  child,  who  was  to 
rule  all  nations  •  because  the  Church,  as  she  always  brings 
forth  Christ, — the  perfect  Son  of  God,  and  proclaimed  to  God 
uid  Man, — teaches  all  nations." — Demon,  de  Christo  et 
Antieli.  Galland.  t.  ii.  n.  61,  p.  439.  (Fab.  1. 1,  n.  61,^.  50.) 

ST.  CYPRIAN,  L.  C.— "  The  Church  flooded  with  the  light  of 
the  Lord,  puts  forth  her  rays  throughout  the  whole  world ; 
yet  the  light  is  one  which  is  spread  over  every  place,  while  its 
unity  of  body  is  preserved.  In  the  luxuriance  of  her  plenti- 
fulness,  &c.,  as  given  from  De  Unitate,  under  " Unity"  p. 
142,  et  seqq. 

ST.  METHODIUS,  G.  C. — "  The  woman  that  appeared  in 
heaven  clothed  with  the  sun,  &c.,"  as  given  under  "Author 
ity,"  pp.  40,  41. 

1  Of  St.  Hippolytus  nothing  is  known,  except  perhaps  that  he  was  a 
bishop,  probably  a  scholar  of  St.  Irenapus,  and  that  he  was  living  in  222. 
Fabricius  published  fragments  of  his  numerous  writings,  in  two  volumes  in 
folio,  the  first  of  which  appeared  in  1716,  and  the  second  in  1718,  at  Ham 
burgh.  Gallandius,  in  the  second  volume  of  his  Bibliotheca  Vet.  Scrip., 
has  rearranged  Fabricius'  edition,  and  given  additional  notes.  Several  un 
published  fragments  of  St.  Hippolytus  are  known  to  exist,  and,  in  the  last 
century,  promises  were  held  out  of  a  new  and  more  complete  edition  of  this 
father's  works  (Ada  Enid.  Lips.  an.  1718).  His  works  stand  more  in  need 
of  a  careful  revision  than  those  of  any  writer  of  the  first  three  centuries. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  193 

CENTURY  IV. 

EFSEBIUS,  G.  C. — Explaining  Zacharias  xiv.  4,  he  says  : 
"  Then  they  returned  to  Jerusalem  from  the  mountain  that  is 
called  Olivet,  which  is  over  against  Jerusalem  (Acts  i.  12). 
The  mount  of  Olives  spoken  of  is,  indeed,  according  to  the 
words  read,  over  against  Jerusalem,  and  to  the  east  of  it 
(Zach.  xiv.  4) ;  but,  besides  this,  according  to  the  sense,  it  is 
the  holy  Church  of  Christ  and  the  mountain  upon  which  it 
has  been  based,  of  which  the  Saviour  teaches,  saying,  A  city 
seated  on  a  mountain  cannot  be  hid  (Matt,  v.),  being — instead 
of  that  Jerusalem  which  has  fallen  and  never  risen — raised  up, 
and  found  worthy  of  the  feet  of  Christ :  and  this  is  not  only 
over  against  Jerusalem,  but  is  also  to  the  east  of  it,  having 
received  the  rays  of  that  light  by  which  we  worship  God,  and 
being  much  before  Jerusalem,  and  nearer  to  the  sun  of  justice, 
of  whom  it  has  been  said  :  Unto  those  that  fear  me  the  Sun 
of  justice  shall  arise  (Mai.  iv.  2)." — Dem.  Evang.  I.  vi.  c.  18, 
p.  289,  Colon.  1688. 

"  The  Lord  shall  rejoice  over  ihee,  even  as  the  bridegroom 
rejoiceth  over  the  bride  (Is.  Ixii.  5).  For  the  only-begotten 
"Word  of  God  came  down  from  heaven  that  He  might  show 
forth,  as  bearing  fruit,  that  Church  which  He  united  to  Him 
self,  a  chaste  virgin,  not  having  spot  or  wrinkle,  but  rather 
holy  and  without  blemish.  Having  therefore  from  Him  re 
ceived  the  seeds  of  the  evangelical  institution,  He  has  exhibited 
the  spouse  resplendent  with  spiritual  sacrifices,  and  with  holy 
works." — Comment,  in  Hesai.  c.  Ixii.  t.  ii.  Nov.  Collect.  Patr. 
Grcec.  (Montfaucori). 

ST.  HILARY.— Explaining  St.  Matthew  v.  15  :  "  A  city  built 
upon  a  7nountain  cannot  be  hid.  &c.  The  light,  or  lamp  of 
Christ,  is  not  now  to  be  hidden  under  a  bushel,  nor  to  be  con 
cealed  by  any  covering  of  the  synagogue,  but,  hung  on  the 
wood  of  the  Passion,  it  will  give  an  everlasting  light  to  those 
that  dwell  in  the  Church.1  He  also  admonishes  the  Apostles 
to  shine  with  a  like  splendor,  that  by  the  admiration  of  their 
1  Lumen  aeternum  in  ecclesia  habitantibus  est  praebitura. 


194  VISIBILITY 

deeds,  praise  may  be  given  to  God." — Comment,  in  Matth.  c. 
v.  n.  13,  t.  i.  p.  683. 

ST.  ATHANASIUS,  G.  C. — Explaining  Ps.  Ixxxviii.  38  :  "  And 
Ills  throne  as  the  sun  before  me.  Understand,  by  the  throne 
of  Christ,  the  Church ;  for  in  it  He  rests.  The  Church  of 
Christ,  then,  he  says,  shall  be  refulgent  and  enlighten  all  un 
der  heaven,  and  be  abiding  as  the  sun  and  the  moon.  For  this 
passage  says  so :  His  throne  as  the  sun  before  me,  and  as  the 
moon  perfect  for  ever,  and  a  faithful  witness  in  heaven"  - 
Expos,  in  Ps.  t.  \.p.  922. 

ST.  OPTATUS  OF  MILEVIS,  L.  C. — "  It  is  written  in  Isaias  the 
prophet,  The  law  shall  come  forth  from  Sion,  and  the  word  of 
the  Lord  from  Jerusalem  (ii.  3).  Xot  therefore  on  that  Mount 
Sion  does  Isaias  look  down  upon  the  valley,  but  on  that  holy 
mountain  which  is  the  Church,  that  mountain  which  lifts  its 
head  over  the  whole  Eoinan  world  under  heaven.  In  which 
mountain  the  Son  of  God  rejoices  that  He  has  been  by  God 
appointed  king,  saying  in  the  first  Psalm,  For  He  has  ap 
pointed  me  king  over  Sion,  His  holy  mountain,  to  wit,  the 
Church,  of  which  He  is  king  and  bridegroom  and  head.  .  .  . 
The  spiritual  Sion  is  therefore  the  Church  in  which  Christ 
has  been  appointed  king  by  God  the  Father,  a  Church  which 
is  throughout  the  world,  wherein  there  is  one  Catholic 
Church."— De  Sc/ns.  Donat.  I.  iii.  n.  2. 

ST.  BASIL,  G.  C. — "And  in  the  last  days  the  mountain  of 
the  house  of  the  Lord  shall  be  prepared  on  the  top  of  moun 
tains  (Is.  ii.  2).  The  house  of  the  Lord,  prepared  on  the  top 
of  mountains,  is  the  Church,  according  to  that  declaration  of 
the  Apostle,  Know,  he  says,  how  thou  oughtest  to  behave  thy 
self  in  the  house  of  God,  which  is  the  Church  of  the  living 
God  (1  Tim.  iii.)  Whose  foundations  are  on  the  holy  moun 
tains,  for  it  is  built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  Apostles  and 
prophets.  One  also  of  these  mountains  was  Peter,  upon 
which  rock  the  Lord  promised  to  build  His  Church." — T.  i. 
Par.  2,  Comm.  in  Esai.  c.  2,  n.  66,  p.  604.1 

1  By  Gamier,  who  published  the  first  two  volumes  of  St.  Basil's  works 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  195 

ST.  J.  CHRYSOSTOM,  G.  C.—  "  It  is  an  easier  tiling  for  the  sun 
to  be  quenched,  than  for  the  Church  to  be  made  invisible."  '— 
T.  vi.  Horn,  iv.  In  illud,  vidi  Dom.  n.  2,  p.  141.  See  the  con 
text  under  "  Indefectibility  .  "  See  also,  under  the  same  head, 
the  close  of  the  extract  from  T.  vi.  In  Is.  ii.  n.  2,  pp.  24,  25. 

CENTURY  v. 

ST.  AUGUSTINE,  L.  C.—  "  He,  therefore,  that  has  no  wish  to 
sit  in  the  council  of  vanity  (Ps.  xxv.  4),  let  him  not  be  borne 
away  by  the  whirlwind  of  pride,  seeking  for  conventicles  of 
the  just,  conventicles  which  he  cannot  find  separated  from  the 
unity  of  the  whole  world.  But  there  are  just  men  through 
out  the  whole  of  that  city  which  cannot  be  hid,  because  it  is 
placed  upon  a  mountain  :  that  mountain,  I  mean,  of  Daniel, 
where  that  stone,  cut  without  hands,  increased,  and  filled  the 
whole  earth  (Dan.  ii.)  Throughout,  therefore,  the  whole  of 
this  city,  which  is  spread  over  the  whole  world,  the  just  groan 
and  mourn  on  account  of  the  iniquities  which  are  committed 
in  the  midst  of  them.  Therefore,  let  no  one  seek  for  the  just 
in  a  state  of  separation,  but  rather  let  him  mourn  together 
with  them  over  the  commixture  of  evil  men  which  is  found 
in  this  life.  .  .  .  There  is,  therefore,  no  safeguard  of  unity, 
save  from  the  Church  made  known  by  the  promises  of  Christ, 
—a  Church  which,  being  seated  on  a  hill,  as  has  been  said, 
cannot  be  hid  ;  and  for  this  cause  it  must  needs  be  known  to 
all  parts  of  the  earth.'  Let  us,  then,  hold  it  as  a  thing  immov 
able  and  firm,  that  no  good  men  can  separate  themselves  from 
her;  that  is,  that  no  good  men  —  wherever  those  men  may 
dwell,  even  though  they  may  have  to  bear  with  evil  men  well 
known  to  them  —  will,  on  account  of  those  evil  men,  separate 

(ed.  Bened.},  the  Comm.  on  Isaias  is  thought,  contrary  to  the  almost  unani 
mous  opinions  of  critics,  not  to  be  by  St.  Basil,  though  in  §  x.  n.  64  (al. 
63),  he  declares  it  to  be  from  some  writer  contemporary  with  that  saint. 
Maran,  who  edited  the  third  volume,  occupies  the  forty-second  chapter  of 
his  Vita  S.  Basilii  with  proofs  that  it  is  St.  Basil's. 

d/3edQ^ratj  y  rrjv  exxXr 


. 

2  Nulla  est  igitur  securitas  unitatis,  nisi  ex  promissis  Dei  ecclesia  de- 
clarata  .  .  .  et  ideo  necesse  est  ut  omnibus  terrarum  parti  bus  nota  sit. 


196  VISIBILITY 

themselves,  by  the  fool-hardy  sacrilege  of  schism,1  from  the 
good  that  are  at  a  distance  from  and  unknown  to  them." — T. 
ix.  1.  iii.  Contr.  Ep.  Parmeniani,  n.  27,  28,  col.  146,  147. 

"  You  know,  and  indeed  you  remark,  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
came  down  in  this  manner,  in  order  that  they  whom  He  then 
filled  might  speak  in  every  tongue.  What  meant  that  sign  and 
prodigy  ?  Why  is  the  Holy  Ghost  given  so  that  an  obscure 
individual,  to  whom  He  is  given,  is  able  to  speak  in  every 
tongue ;  but  that  the  miracle  then  performed  portended  that 
all  nations  would  believe,  and  so  the  Gospel  be  in  every 
tongue  ?  This  had  been  also  foretold  in  the  psalm  long  be 
fore  :  There  is  no  speech  nor  language  where  their  voice  is  not 
heard  (Ps.  xviii.)  This  was  said  in  regard  of  those  who, 
after  having  received  the  Holy  Ghost,  were  to  speak  in  every 
tongue.  But  because  that  same  miracle  signified  that,  in  all 
nations  and  tongues,  the  Gospel  would  be,  and  Christ's  body 
speak  aloud  in  every  tongue,  throughout  the  whole  world, 
there  is  added,  Their  sound  has  gone  forth  into  all  the  earth, 
and  their  words  unto  the  ends  of  the  earth.  Hence  is  it  that 
the  true  Church  is  hidden  from  no  one.3  For  this  cause  is 
that  which  Himself  says  in  the  Gospel,  A  city  seated  on  a 
hill  cannot  be  hid.  For  this,  too,  there  is  appended,  in  the 
above  psalm,  lie  hath  set  His  tabernacle  in  the  sun,  that  is,  in 
open  view,8  as  we  find  said  in  the  Books  of  Kings,  What  thou 
hast  done  secretly,  thou  shalt  suffer  in  the  sight  of  the  sun  (2 
Kings  xii.  12)."— Ibid.  I.  ii.  Contra  Lit.  Petil.  n.  74,  col.  390. 

1  Temerario  schismatis  sacrilegio. 

2  Ilinc  fit  ut  ecclesia  vera  neminem  lateat.      He  makes  this  statement  in 
stronger  terms,  if  possible,  in  a  letter  to  the  Donatist  Severinus:  "How 
much  it  is  to  be  deplored  that  we,  who  are  related  in  the  flesh,  live  not  in 
the  body  of  Christ  in  one  society,  especially  as  it  is  easy  for  thee  to  mark 
and  see  the  city  placed  upon  a  mountain,  concerning  which  the  Lord  says 
in  the  Gospel,  that  it  cannot  be  hid.      For  it  is  the  Catholic  Church  itself  ; 
which  is  therefore  called  in  Greek  HaQohixi?,  because  it  is  spread  throughout 
the  whole  world.      It  is  not  allowed  to  any  one  not  to  know  this  Church; 
for  which  cause,  according  to  the  word  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  it  cannot 
be  hid.     (Hanc  ignorare  nulli  licet;  ideo  secundum  verbum  Domini  .  .  . 
abscondi  non  potest.)" — T.  ii.  Ep.  Iii.  (Class,  secund.),  pp.  177,  178. 

3  Id  est,  in  manifestatione. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  197 

"  Petilian  said,  £  If  you  say  that  you  hold  fast  to  the  Catho 
lic  Church — catholicos  (naOoXinos)  is  that  which,  in  Greek, 
signifies  the  alone,  or  the  whole.  Now,  you  are  not  in  the 
whole,  seeing  that  you  have  sunk  into  a  part.'  Augustine  re 
plies  :  '  For  my  part  I  have  indeed  attained  to  a  very  slight, 
scarcely  any,  knowledge  of  the  Greek  language,  yet  do  I  say 
without  presumption,  that  I  know  that  okov  means,  not  one, 
but  the  whole,  and  naO'oXov  according  to  ike  whole :  so  that 
the  Catholic  Church  received  its  name  when  the  Lord  said, 
You  shall  be  witnesses  unto  me  in  Jerusalem,  and  in  all  Ju- 
dcea,  and  Samaria,  and  even  to  the  uttermost  part  of  the 
earth  (Acts  i.  8).  Behold  wherefore  she  is  called  Catholic. 
But  you,  with  closed  eyes,  so  stumble  against  that  mountain, 
which,  from  a  small  stone,  according  to  the  prophecy  of 
Daniel,  increased  and  filled  the  whole  earth, — as  to  say,  to  us, 
that  '  we  have  sunk  into  a  part,  and  that  we  are  not  in  the 
whole,'  wTe  whose  communion  is  diffused  throughout  the 
whole  world.  But  as,  were  you  to  tell  me  that  I  am  Pe 
tilian,  I  could  not  find  any  other  way  of  refuting  you,  but 
to  laugh  at  you  as  joking,  or  to  grieve  for  you  as  mad,  so 
ought  I  clearly  to  treat  you  now ;  but,  as  I  do  not  think  that 
you  are  joking,  you  see  the  consequence." — Ibid.  L.  ii.  Contr. 
Lit.  Petil.  n.  90  (al.  38),  col.  400,  401. 

"  May  God  withdraw  thee  from  the  party  of  Donatus,  and 
recall  thee  to  the  Catholic  Church,  whence  they  snatched  thee 
when  a  catechumen,  and  bound  thee  with  the  chain  of  a  deadly 
honor.  Then  shall  the  dew  of  Hermon  upon  the  mountains 
of  Sion  be  partaken  in  by  thee ;  ye  are  not  in  the  mountains 
of  Sion,  because  you  are  not  in  the  city  seated  on  a  hill,  which 
has  this  sure  mark,  that  it  cannot  be  hidden.1  It  is,  therefore, 
known  to  all  nations :  now  the  party  of  Donatus  is  unknown 
to  many  nations  :  it  is  not,  therefore,  that  city." — Ibid.  I.  c. 
n.  239  (al.  104),  col.  466. 

ST.  CHROMATIUS,  L.  C. — "  A  city  seated  on  a  hill  cannot  be 
hid.  By  this  city  is  here  meant  the  Church,  concerning  which 

1  Certum  signum  hoc  habet,  quod  abscond!  non  potest. 


198  VISIBILITY  OP  THE  CHURCH. 

the  divine  Scriptures  in  many  places  give  testimony,  and  o: 
which  David  especially  speaks,  saying,  Glorious  things  are 
said  of  thee,  0  city  of  God  (Ps.  Ixxxvi.) :  and  again,  The 
stream  of  the  river  maketh  the  city  of  God  joyful  (Ps.  xlv.) ; 
and  again,  As  we  have  heard,  so  have  we  seen,  in  the  city  of  the 
Lord  of  Hosts,  in  the  city  of  our  God.  God  hath  founded 
it  for  ever  (Ps.  xlvii.)  ...  As  a  city,  therefore,  placed  upon 
a  hill,  he  points  out  the  Church,  upon  the  faith  of  our  Lord 
and  Saviour  placed  in  heavenly  glory, — a  Church  which  . .  .  visi 
ble  to  the  whole  world,  has  been  made  glorious  ; '.  .  .  and  he  sub 
joins,  Neither  do  men  light  a  candle  and  put  it  under  a  bushel, 
but  upon  a  candlestick,  that  it  may  shine  to  all  that  are  in  the 
house  (St.  Matth.  v.)  .  .  .  Wherefore  this  light  of  the  law 
and  of  faith  is  not  to  be  hidden  from  us,  but  is  to  be  always 
placed  in  the  Church,  as  it  were  in  a  candlestick,"  for  the  sal 
vation  of  many,  that  both  we  may  enjoy  the  light  of  its  truth, 
and  all  believers  may  be  enlightened.  The  Holy  Ghost  ex 
horts,  by  Isaias  also,  unto  the  contemplation  of  this  light, 
saying,  Come  ye,  let  us  walk  in  the  light  of  the  Lord  (Is.  ii.  5). 
Of  which  light  blessed  Peter  also  testifies  in  his  epistle,  saying, 
Who  hath  snatched  us  out  of  darkness,  and  called  us  unto 
marvellous  light  (1  Pet.  ii.)  Whence  also  the  prophet  Zacha- 
rias,  that  he  might  make  known  the  mysteries  of  this  spiritual 
light,  and  of  the  heavenly  candlestick  which  was  pointed  out 
as  a  figure  of  the  Church,  amongst  other  things  which  were 
shown,  witnesses  that  he  saw  a  golden  candlestick  with  its 
lamps.  For  even  in  the  tabernacle  of  the  testimony,  after  the 
fashion  of  the  truth  to  come,  a  candlestick  with  its  lamps  gave 
light  to  the  people  with  a  flame  that  never  wearied.  The  rea 
son  of  this  has  been,  even  as  all  the  sacraments  of  the  law,  a  thing 
hidden  from  the  Jews,  but  is  to  us  now  manifest.  For  we 
know  that  there  was  exhibited,  in  that  candlestick,  a  type  of 
the  true  and  eternal  light,  that  is,  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  who,  by 
means  of  His  multiform  grace,  always  gives  light  to  the  whole 

1  Universe  raundo  conspicua  facta  est  gloriosa. 

*  Semper  in  ecclesia,  velut  in  candelabro  constituenda. 


INDEFECTIBILITY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  199 

body  of  the  Church."  1— Tract,  iv.  in  Matth.  p.  339,  t.  viii. 
Gotland. 

ST.  CYRIL  OF  ALEXANDRIA,  G.  C.— Explaining  7$.  ii.  2 :  "  Of 
the  Church  the  prophet  says,  that  in  the  latter  days  the  moun 
tain  of  the  Lord  shall  le  conspicuous,  and  the  house  of  the 
God  of  Jacob  upon  the  tops  of  the  mountains,  and  we  indeed 
read  that  the  Sion  of  the  Jews  was  placed  and  built  upon  a 
mountain.  But  we  may  here  understand,  not  in  a  visible  but 
in  a  spiritual  manner,  the  Church,  which  also  is  compared  to 
a  mountain.  For  the  Church  is  in  truth  lofty  and  conspicuous, 
and  well  known  to  all  men  in  every  place.2  It  is  also  lofty  in 
another  sense ;  for  her  thoughts  have  nothing  earthly,  but  she 
is  above  all  that  is  earthly,  and  with  the  eyes  of  the  under 
standing,  looks  upon,  as  far  as  it  is  possible,  the  glory  of  God, 
and  glories  in  doctrines  truly  exalted,  concerning  God. 
Wherefore,  with  justice  may  the  house  of  God  be  called  a 
mountain  (known)  by  the  understanding,  and  it  is  perfectly 
visible,  as  being  raised  upon  the  hills ;  and  one  may  say  of  it, 
and  with  great  cause,  what  as  a  notable  illustration  was  uttered 
by  the  mouth  of  the  Saviour :  A  city  placed  upon  a  hill  can 
not  le  hidden^— T.  ii.  Comm.  inEsai.l.  1,  or.  2, pp.  35,  36. 
Almost  the  same  words  occur  again  Ibid.  1.  iii.  p.  353,  et 
passim. 


THE  CHURCH  CANNOT  FAIL 


IF  the  Church,  as  we  have  seen,  be  always  visible,  it  is  plain 
that  it  cannot  fail;  for  if  it  failed,  it  would  cease  to  be  visi 
ble,  as  it  would  cease  to  be. 


SCRIPTURE. 

Mati.  xvi.  18.     «  And  I  say  to  thee,  that  thou  art  Peter,  and 

1  Omne  ecclesiae  corpus  semper  illuminat. 

2  E6nv    aXrjQwS    vtyrjXrj    nal   itepioTtroS,   nal 


200  INDEFECTIBILITY 

on  this  rock '  I  will  build  my  Church,  and  the  gates  of  hell ' 
shall  not  prevail  against  it." 

Matt,  xxviii.  18-20.  "All  power  is  given  to  me  in  heaven  and 
in  earth.  Going  therefore  teach  ye  all  nations,  baptizing  them 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have 
commanded  you ;  and  behold  I  am  with  you  4  all  days,  even 
to  the  consummation  of  the  world."  ! 

Luke  i.  31-33.  "  Thou  shalt  call  His  name  Jesus.  He  shall 
be  great,  and  shall  be  called  the  Sou  of  the  Most  High,  and 
the  Lord  God  shall  give  unto  Him  the  throne  of  David  His 
father,  and  He  shall  reign  in  the  house  of  Jacob  for  ever : 
and  of  His  kingdom  there  shall  be  no  end." 

John  xiv.  lt>,  17.  "And  I  will  ask  the  Father,  and  He 
shall  give  you  another  Paraclete,  that  he  may  abide  with  you 
for  ever.7  The  spirit  of  truth  whom  the  world  cannot  receive, 
because  it  seeth  him  not,  nor  knoweth  him ;  but  you  shall  know 
him,  because  he  shall  abide  with  you,  and  shall  be  in  you."- 
See  also  Matt.  xiii.  24-50;  1  Cor.  xi.  26 ;  Ephes.  iv.  11-13. 


THE    FATHERS. 


CENTURY  II. 

ST.  IGNATIUS,  G.  C. — "  For  this  cause  did  the  Lord  take  the 
ointment  on  His  head,  that  He  might  breathe  incorruption  upon 
the  Church."  M — Ep.  ad  Ephes.  n.  17. 

1  Cf.  Matt.  vii.  24-27;  2  Kings  xxii.  2,  3;  Ps.  xxxix.  3  (al.  xl.  2). 
a  See  Rosenmuller's  Comm.  in  Loco. 

3  Cf.  Ps.  xlvii.  (al.  xlviii.)  9;  Daniel  ii.  44. 

4  Cf.  Gen.  xxi.  22  ;  xxvi.  2,  3  ;  xxxi.  3-5  ;  xlvi.  3,  4  ;  Exod.  (ii.  11,  12  ; 
Deut.  xxxi.  7,  8;  Josue  i.  5,  9;  Jeremias  i.  17-19,  et  passim.     So  also  in  the 
New  Testament,  Luke  i.  28 ;  Acts  xviii.  9,  10. 

6  Cf.  Matt.  xiii.  39,  40;  xxiv.  3;  Isaias  ix.  6,  7;  liv.  1-17;  Ix.  1-22. 

8  The  prophecies  already  quoted  as  fulfilled  apply  here  also.  See  also 
Micheas  iv.  7,  and  the  prophetic  books  throughout,  which  foretell  that 
Christ's  kingdom  was  to  endure  for  ever. 

7  Cf.  Isaias  lix.  19-21.  *"Iva  Ttrey  ty  eKKXrjGia  dqfiaptiiar. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  201 

ST.  IKEN^US.  G.  C. — "  The  public  teaching  (preaching)  of 
the  Church  is  everywhere  uniform,  and  equally  enduring,  .  .  . 
our  faith,  which  having  received  (it)  from  the  Church  we 
guard,  and  which,  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  is  ever  in  youthful 
freshness,  like  something  excellent  deposited  in  a  beautiful 
vase,  making  even  the  vase  itself,  wherein  it  is,  seem  newly 
formed.1  For  this  office  of  God  has  been  entrusted  to  the 
Church,"  &c. — As  under  "  Unity"  Adv.  Hceres.  I.  iii.  c.  24, 
pp.  222,  223. 

"  The  wife  of  Lot  remained  in  Sodom,  now  no  longer  cor 
ruptible  flesh,  but  an  ever-enduring  statue  of  salt ;  and  by  un 
dergoing  those  things  which  are  usual  to  human  nature,3 
pointing  out  that  the  Church,  which  is  the  salt  of  the  earth, 
has  been  left  on  the  earth's  confines,  suffering  what  is  human : 
and  while  entire  members  are  often  rent  from  it,  it  still  con 
tinues  a  statue  of  salt,  that  is  the  ground  of  faith,  confirming 
and  forwarding  the  sons  to  their  Father."  3 — Ibid.  1.  iv.  c.  xxxi. 
n.  3,/>.  269.  See  also  Hid.  I.  v.  Prctf.p.  291. 

CLEMENT  OF  ALEXANDRIA,  G.  C. — [Explaining  the  mystical 
meaning  of  that  part  of  the  history  of  Isaac  and  Rebecca,  which 
occurs  in  Genes,  xxvi.  8,  and  having  said  that  Rebecca  means 
patience,  he  continues  :]  "  The  statement  of  the  prophecy  may 
also  be  taken  in  another  sense,  namely,  that  like  Isaac,  we  re 
joice  and  laugh,  because  of  salvation.  He  laughed  because 
saved  from  death,  playing  and  exulting  with  the  spouse,  that 
helper  unto  salvation,  the  Church,  to  which  hath  been  given 
the  firm  name,  Patience ;  either  because  she  alone  remains 
ever  rejoicing  unto  all  ages*  .  .  .  Wherefore,  Christ,  the 
King,  from  above,  watches  our  laughter ;  and,  as  the  Scripture 
says,  looking  out  through  the  window  upon  our  united  thanks- 

1  Quara  perceptam  ab  ecclesia  custodimus,  et  quae  semper  a  Spiritu  Dei, 
quasi  in  vase  bono  eximium  quoddam  depositum  juvenescens,  et  juvenescere 
faciens  ipsum  vas  in  quo  est. 

2  For  an  elucidation  of  this  passage,  see  the  poem  entitled  "  Sodoma," 
which  is  usually  given  amongst  Tertullian's  works. 

3  Dum  saspe  auferuntur  ab  ea  membra  Integra,  perse ve rat  statua  sails. 
quod  est  firmamentum  fidei,  firmans  et  praemittens  fihosad  Patrem  ipsorum. 

O.VTT}  £/5  rov$  ataovaS  HEVEI  xaipovtfa  aei. 


202  INDEFECTIBILITY 

giving  and  blessing,  joy  and  gladness,  and  patience  which 
works  together  with  them,  He  looks  upon  the  Church  which 
is  His  only,  showing  His  person  which  was  wanting  to  the 
Church,  which  is  perfected  by  a  kingly  head." — Poeda/jog.  I. 
i.  c.  5,  p.  111. 

"  An  excellent  thing  the  city  and  the  people :  .  .  .  governed 
by  law,  as,  by  the  Word,  the  Church,  which  is  a  city  on  earth 
impregnable,  and  free  from  oppression,  the  divine  will  on  earth, 
as  (it  is)  in  heaven.'' — Strom.  1.  iv.  p.  642. 

"  If  any  magistrate  prohibit  the  Greek  philosophy,  it  vanishes 
at  once ;  but  though,  from  its  very  first  announcement,  both 
kings  and  tyrants,  and  individual  magistrates,  and  rulers,  with 
all  their  paid  servants,  and  the  countless  multitude,  were  set  in 
hostile  array  against  us,  and,  trying  with  all  their  power  to  root 
us  out,  have  opposed  themselves  against  our  doctrine,  it  but 
flourishes  the  more  ;  for  it  perishes  not  like  human  doctrine, 
nor  fades  away  like  a  feeble  gift, — for  no  gift  of  God  is 
powerless, — it  endures,  incapable  of  being  put  down  ;  prophe 
sied  of,  that  it  should  be  persecuted  to  the  end." — Strom.  I. 
vi.  p.  827. 

CENTURY    III. 

ORIGEN,  G.  C. — "  The  Son  of  God,  not  then  only,  but  also 
always,  is  with  His  own  disciples  ;  f ullilling  that  (saying),  Be- 
Jiold  1  mm  with  you  all  the  days  until  the  consummation 
of  the  worldr—T.  1,  1.  v.  Contr.  Cels.  n.  12,  p.  586. 

"  Isaac,  under  the  law,  built  an  altar,  and  pitched  his  tent 
(Gen.  xxvi.  25).  But,  in  the  gospels,  he  pitched  not  a  tent,  but 
builds  a  house,  and  lays  down  a  foundation.  For  hearken  to 
Wisdom  saying  of  the  Church  :  Wisdom  hath  built  herself  a 
house,  and  placed  under  it  seven  pillars  (Prov.  ix.)  Hearken 
also  to  Paul,  who  says  of  the  same :  Other  foundation  no 
man  can  lay  but  that  which  is  laid,  which  is  Jesus  Christ  (1 
COT.  iii.)  Wherefore,  where  there  is  a  tabernacle,  though  it 
is  pitched,  it  is  without  doubt  to  be  taken  down ;  but  where 
there  are  foundations,  and  the  house  is  built  upon  a  rock, 
that  house  never  is  taken  down.  For  it  is  founded  upon  a 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  203 

rock." — T.  ii.  Horn.  xiv.  in  Genes,  n.  2,  p.  97.  See  also  T. 
ii.  Horn.  1,  in  Lib.  Jesu  Name,  n.  5,  p.  399. 

"  Thou  art  Peter,  and  the  rest,  down  to  and  the  gates  of 
hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it.  Which  does  this  it  refer  to  ? 
the  rock  upon  which  Christ  built  His  Church,  or  the  Church  f 
For  the  phrase  is  ambiguous.  Or  is  it  that  they  are,  as  it  were, 
one  and  the  same  thing,  the  rock  and  the  Church  f  This,  I 
think,  is  the  real  fact,  for  neither  against  the  rock  upon  which 
Christ  built  His  Church,  nor  against  the  Church  shall  the 
gates  of  hell  prevail.  .  .  .  The  Church,  as  the  edifice  of 
Christ,  who  wisely  "built  His  house  upon  the  rock,  is  not  sus 
ceptible  of  the  gates  of  hell,1  which  prevailing  against  every 
one  who  is  out  of  the  rock  and  the  Church,  have  no  power 
against  her.2 — T.  iii.  torn.  xii.  in  Matth.  n.  xi.  p.  526. 

"  Though  the  gates  of  hell  are  many,  and  almost  countless, 
not  one  of  them  shall  prevail  against  the  rock,  or  against  the 
Church  which  Christ  built  upon  it." — 11.  p.  527.  See  also  on 
"I  am  with  you  always"  &c. — Ib.  pp.  554,  555,  and  Ib.  in 
Matt.  torn.  16,  n.  22,  p.  754 ;  also  the  extract  given  under 
"  Visibility." 

ST.  HIPPOLYTUS,  G.  C. — "  Woe  to  the  land,  the  sails  (wings) 
of  ships,  which  is  beyond  the  rivers  of  Ethiopia,  etc.  (Is.  xviii. 
1,  2).  The  sails  of  ships  are  the  churches :  the  sea  is  the 
world,  in  which  the  Church,  like  the  ship  on  the  sea,  is  indeed 
tempest-tossed,  but  perishes  not ;  for,  with  it  it  has  that  skil 
ful  pilot  Christ.  It  carries,  too,  in  midship,  the  trophy  erected 
against  death,  bearing  with  it,  that  is,  the  cross  of  the  Lord. 
For  its  prow  is  the  east,  its  stern  the  west,  the  midships  the 
south ;  the  rudders  the  two  Testaments ;  the  ropes  stretched 
about  it  are  the  love  of  Christ,  which  binds  together  the 
Church ;  the  net  which  it  carries  is  the  laver  of  regeneration, 
which  renews  the  believers,  whence  are  glorious  things.  For 
wind  there  is  the  heavenly  Spirit,  through  whom  the  believers 
are  sealed  unto  God.  It  has  also  anchors  of  iron  ;  that  is,  the 
holy  precepts  of  Christ  Himself,  which  are  strong  as  iron.  It 

1  Av STfid EHT 6$  £drt  itv\£v  adov.          2  'Ovdsr  dwa^evaov  TtpoS  avn/v. 


204  INDEFECTIBILITY 

has  likewise  sailors  to  the  right  and  to  the  left,  aiding  as  the 
holy  angels,  through  whom  the  Church  is  always  governed 
and  protected." — Demomt.  de  Christo  et  Antichristo,  n.  59, 
Gotland.  BM.  t.  ii.  p.  438.  (Fabr.  t.  1,  p.  28,  n.  59.) 

ST.  CYPRIAN,  L.  C. — After  expressing  his  joy  that  the  con 
fessors  had  abandoned  Novatian,  he  says :  "  For  this  is  a  fresh 
confession  of  your  faith  and  of  praise,  to  confess  that  the 
Church  is  one ;  that  it  is  not  made  partaker  in  other's  error, 
or  rather,  in  other's  pravity ; '  to  return  to  the  same  camp 
whence  you  went  forth ;  whence  you  rushed  forth  with  mighty 
power,  to  give  battle  to,  and  conquer,  the  enemy.  .  .  .  For 
thougli  tares  be  seen  to  be  in  the  Church,  neither  our  faith 
nor  our  charity  ought  to  be  impeded,  so  as  to  withdraw  our 
selves  from  the  Church,  because  we  see  tares  in  the  Church.2 
It  is  for  us  simply  to  strive  that  we  may  be  tme  wheat,  that 
when  the  wheat  shall  begin  to  be  garnered  into  the  Lord's 
barns,  we  may  receive  fruit  according  to  our  work  and  labor. 
The  Apostle  says,  in  his  Epistle  :  In  a  great  house  there  are 
not  only  vessels  of  gold  and  of  silver,  but  also  of  wood  and 
of  earth ;  and  some  indeed  unto  honor,  lut  sortie  unto  dis 
honor  (2  Tim.  ii.  20).  Let  us,  therefore,  my  dearest  brethren, 
strive  and  labor  our  utmost  to  be  vessels  of  gold  and  of  silver. 
But  to  'break  the  vessels  of  earth  is  entrusted  to  the  Lord 
alone,  to  whom  also  has  been  given  the  rod  of  iron.  The 
servant  cannot  be  greater  than  his  Lord,  nor  can  any  one 
claim  for  himself  that  which  the  Father  has  granted  to  the  Son 
alone,  so  as  to  fancy  that  he  can  carry  the  fan  to  wiimow  and 
cleanse  the  thrashing-floor,  or  separate  by  human  judgment  all 
the  tares  from  the  wheat.  This  is  a  proud  obstinacy  and  a 
sacrilegious  presumption,  which  a  guilty  madness  assumes  to 
itself.  And  while  some  men  ever  assume  to  themselves  a  do 
minion  beyond  what  meek  justice  requires,  they  perish  from 
the  Church;  and  whilst  they  insolently  exalt  themselves 

1  Nee  alien!  erroris,  vel  pot  ins  pravitatis  participem  fieri. 

2  Nam  etsi  videntur  in  ecclesia  esse  zizania,  non  tainen  impediri  debet 
aut  fides  aut  charitas  nostra,  ut  quoniam  zizania  esse  in  ecclesia  cernimus, 
ipsi  de  ecclesia  recedamus. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  205 

blinded  by  their  own  swelling  pride,  they  lose  the  light  of 
truth.  ...  As  far  as  my  moderate  abilities  enabled  me,  I  have 
delineated  the  unity  of  the  Church,  which  tract,  I  trust,  will  be 
more  and  more  acceptable  to  you,  when  you  now  read  it  so  as  to 
approve  and  love.  In  as  much  as  what  we  have  expressed  in 
words  you  accomplish  by  deeds,  by  your  return  to  the  Church 
in  the  unity  of  charity  and  peace." — Ep.  li.  ad  confess,  de 
reditu,  pp.  146,  147.  See  also  Ep.  Iv.  ad  Cornelium,  given 
under  *4  Apostolicity" 

"  Nor  ought  it  to  move  any  faithful  person,  and  one  mindful 
of  the  Gospel,  and  who  remembers  the  injunctions  of  the 
Apostle,  who  forewarns  us,  that  in  the  last  times,  certain  proud 
persons,  both  contumacious  and  enemies  to  the  priests  of  God, 
either  withdraw  from  the  Church,  or  act  against  the  Church, 
when  both  the  Lord  and  His  Apostles  have  beforehand  foretold 
that  such  should  now  be.  Nor  let  any  one  wonder  that  the 
servant  set  over  it  is  deserted  by  some  ;  wThen  His  own  disciples 
forsook  the  Lord  Himself,  while  performing  the  greatest 
marvels  and  mighty  deeds,  and  the  testimony  of  His  works 
demonstrating  the  powers  of  God  the  Father.  And  yet  He 
did  not  chide  them  as  they  withdrew,  or  grievously  threaten 
them,  but  rather,  having  turned  to  His  own  Apostles,  said, 
Will  you,  also,  go  away  f  Observing  to  wit  the  law,  whereby 
a  man  left  to  his  own  liberty,  and  placed  (to  act)  by  his  own 
free  choice,  himself  for  himself,  chooses  either  death  or  salva 
tion.  Peter,  however,  on  whom  the  Church  had  been  built 
by  the  same  Lord,  one  speaking  for  all,  and  answering  with 
the  voice  of  the  Church,  says,  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go  f 
Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life,  and  we  believe,  and  have 
known  that  Thou  art  the  Son  of  the  living  God.  Signifying, 
to  wit,  and  showing,  that  they  who  may  and  have  departed 
from  the  Church,  perish  by  their  own  fault ;  but  that  the 
Church  which  believes  in  Christ,  and  which  once  holds  what  it 
has  known,  never  departs  from  Him  at  all ;  and  that  they  are  the 
Church  who  persevere  in  the  house  of  God ; '  but  that  they 

1  Ecclesiam  taraen  quae  in  Christum  credat,  et  quae  semel  id  quod  cog- 


206  INDEFECTIBILITY 

are  not  the  plant  planted  by  God  the  father,  who,  we  see, 
are  not  rooted  with  the  firmness  of  wheat,  but  are  blown  about 
like  chaff  by  the  breath  of  the  enemy  scattering  them ;  of 
whom  also  John,  in  his  epistle,  says,  They  went  out  from  us, 
but  they  were  not  of  us.  For  if  they, had  been  of  us,  they 
would,  no  doubt,  have  remained  with  us.  Also  Paul  ad 
monishes  us,  not  to  be  moved  when  the  wicked  perish  from 
the  Church,  and  that  faith  is  not  lessened  by  the  withdrawal 
of  the  faithless.  For  what,  he  says,  if  some  of  them  have 
fallen  from  the  faith  f  has  their  unbelief  made  the  faith 
of  God  without  effect  f  God  forbid.  For  God  is  true,  but 
every  man  a  liar.  As  regards  ourselves,  dearest  brother,  it 
concerns  our  conscience  to  endeavor  that  no  one  perish  from 
the  Church  through  our  fault.  But  if  any  one  shall  perish  of 
his  own  will,  and  by  his  own  sin,  and  will  not  do  penitence 
and  return  to  the  Church,  we  who  consult  for  the  health  of  all, 
shall  be  blameless  in  the  day  of  judgment ;  they  alone  will 
continue  in  punishments  who  would  not  be  healed  by  our 
wholesome  counsel." — Ep.  Iv.  ad  Cornelium. 

"  This,  too,  we  perceive  is  embraced  in  the  sacrament  of 
the  chalice.  For,  as  Christ,  who  also  bore  our  sins,  bore  us 
all,  we  see  that  in  the  water  the  people  is  meant,  but  that  in 
the  wine  is  shown  the  blood  of  Christ.  But  when  in  the 
chalice  the  water  is  mingled  with  the  wine,  the  people  is 
united  to  Christ,  and  the  multitude  of  believers  is  connected 
and  conjoined  with  Him  in  whom  it  has  believed.  Which 
connection  and  conjunction  of  water  and  wine  is  so  mingled 
together  in  the  chalice  of  the  Lord,  that  that  commixture 
cannot  be  mutually  separated.  Whence  nothing  can  separate 
the  Church  from  Christ ;  the  Church,  that  is  the  people  settled 
in  the  Church,  faitlifully  and  firmly  persevering  in  what  they 
have  believed,  so  as  that  (her)  indissoluble  love  shall  not 
always  cleave  to  and  abide  in  Him.1  But  thus,  in  consecrating 

noverit  teneat,  nunquam  ab  eo  omnino  discedere,  et  eos  esse  ecclesiam,  qui 
in  domo  Dei  permanent. 

1  Ut  commixtio  ilia   non   possit  ab  invicem  separari.     Unde  ecclesiam 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  207 

the  chalice  of  the  Lord,  water  alone  cannot  be  offered,  as 
neither  can  wine  alone.  For  if  any  should  offer  wine  alone, 
the  blood  of  Christ  begins  to  be  without  us  ;  but  if  there  be 
water  alone,  the  people  begin  to  be  without  Christ ;  but  when 
both  are  mingled,  and  by  a  commingled  union  are  joined  to 
gether,  then  is  the  spiritual  and  heavenly  sacrament  perfected." 
— Ep.  Ixiii.  Ccecilio. 

"  You  write,  moreover,  that,  <  through  me  the  Church  has  a 
portion  of  herself  in  dispersion.'  Whereas  the  whole  people 
of  the  Church  are  collected,  and  united  and  bound  together  in 
undivided  concord  ;  they  alone  can  have  remained  without, 
who,  had  they  been  within,  would  have  had  to  be  cast  forth  ; 
nor  does  the  Lord,  the  protector  and  guardian  of  His  people, 
suffer  the  wheat  to  be  swept  away  from  His  thrashing-floor, 
but  the  chaff  alone  can  be  separated  from  the  Church,  for  that 
the  Apostle  also  says  :  For  what  if  some  of  them  have  fallen 
away  from  the  faith  ?  Has  their  unbelief  made  tJie  faith  of 
God  without  effect?  God  forbid.  For  God  is  true,  but 
every  man  a  liar  (Rom.  iii.  3,  4).  And  the  Lord  also  in  the 
Gospel,  when  the  disciples  were  forsaking  Him  whilst  He 
was  teaching,  turning  to  the  twelve,  said :  Will  you  also  go 
away  f  And  Peter  answered  Him,  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we 
gof  Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life,  &c.  (John  vi. 
68-70).  There  speaks  Peter,  upon  whom  the  Church  was  to 
be  built,1  teaching  and  showing,  in  the  name  of  the  Church, 
that  though  a  contumacious  and  proud  multitude  of  men 
unwilling  to  obey  may  depart,  yet  the  Church  departs  not 
from  Christ ;  and  they  are  the  Church,  the  people  united  to 
the  priest,  and  the  flock  adhering  to  its  own  shepherd.* 
Whence  you  ought  to  know  that  the  bishop  is  in  the  Church, 
and  the  Church  in  the  bishop  ;  and  if  any  be  not  with  the 
bishop,  that  he  is  not  in  the  Church  ;  and  that  they  in  vain 

.  .  .  nulla  res  separare  poterit  a  Christo,  quo  minus  haereat  semper  et 
maneat  individua  dilectio. 

1  Petrus  super  quern  aedificanda  fuerat  ecclesia. 

2  Ecclesia  tamen  a  Christo  non  recedit,  et  illi  sunt  ecclesia  plebs  sacer- 
doti  adunata. 


208  INDEFECTIBILITY 

flatter  themselves  who,  not  having  peace  with  God's  priests, 
creep  in,  and  believe  that  they  secretly  hold  communion  with 
certain  others ;  whereas  the  Church,  which  is  Catholic  and 
one,  is  not  rent  nor  divided,  but  is  indeed  connected  together 
and  knit  by  the  cement  of  priests  cleaving  to  each  other.1 
Wherefore,  brother,  if  you  will  consider  the  majesty  of  God, 
who  ordains  priests ;  if  you  will  at  length  have  respect  to 
Christ,  who  by  His  will  and  fiat,  and  His  own  presence, 
governs  both  the  prelates  themselves,  and  the  Church  with 
the  prelates  ...  if  you  will  most  fully  make  satisfaction  to 
God  and  His  Christ,  whom  I  serve,  and  to  whom,  with  pure 
and  unstained  mouth,  I  unceasingly,  both  during  persecution 
and  in  days  of  peace,  offer  sacrifices,  we  may  take  into  con 
sideration  the  being  in  communion  with  you." — Ep.  Ixix.  ad 
Pupianum,pp.  265,  260. 

"  The  Church  is  one,  which  having  obtained  the  grace  of 
eternal  life,  both  lives  for  ever,  and  gives  life  to  the  people  of 
God."  a— Ep.  Ixxi.  ad  Quintum,p.  271. 

"The  spouse  of  Christ  cannot  become  adulterate;  she  is 
undefiled  and  chaste.8  She  owns  but  one  home  ;  with  spotless 
purity  she  guards  the  sanctity  of  one  chamber.  She  keeps  us 
for  God ;  she  appoints  unto  a  kingdom  the  sons  that  she  has 
borne.  Whosoever,  having  separated  from  the  Church,  is 
joined  to  an  adultress,  he  is  cut  off  from  the  promises  of  the 
Church.  Neither  shall  he  come  unto  the  rewards  of  Christ, 
who  leaves  the  Church  of  Christ.  He  is  an  alien,  he  is  pro 
fane,  he  is  an  enemy.  He  can  no  longer  have  God  for  a 
Father,  who  has  not  the  Church  for  a  mother."— De  Unitate, 
p.  397.  For  the  context,  see  "  Unity" 

"  Let  no  one  imagine  that  good  men  can  leave  the  Church. 
The  wind  carries  not  away  the  wheat,  nor  does  the  storm  over- 

1  Quando  ecclesia,  quae  catholica  et  una  est,  scissa  non  sit  neque  divisa, 
sed  sit  utique  connexa  et  cohaerentium  sibi  invicem   sacerdotura  glutino 
copulata. 

2  Quando  (he  is  speaking  of  rebaptizing)  una  sit  ecclesia  quae  vit» 
seternse  gratiam  consecuta  et  vivit  in  aeternum  et  vivificat  Dei  populum. 

3  Adulterari  non  potest  sponsa  Christi,  incorrupta  est  et  pudica. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  209 

throw  the  tree  that  has  a  solid  root  to  rest  on.  It  is  the  empty 
straw  that  the  tempest  tosses,  the  unhealthy  trees  that  the  blow 
of  the  whirlwind  casts  down.  These  the  Apostle  John  curses 
and  smites,  saying,  They  went  out  from  us,  but  they  were  not 
of  us,  for  if  they  had  been  of  us,  they  would  no  doubt  have 
remained  with  us  (1  John  ii.  19).  Hence  oftentimes  have 
heresies  been  caused,  and  still  are  caused,  while  the  per 
verse  spirit  has  no  peace,  while  perfidy  and  discord  hold  not 
unity.  But  the  Lord  permits  and  suffers  these  things  to  be, 
the  judgment  of  free-will  remaining ;  in  order  that,  whilst  the 
discrimination  of  truth  searches  our  minds  and  hearts,  the 
perfect  faith  of  them  that  are  approved  may  shine  forth  in  the 
manifest  light.  The  Holy  Spirit  forewarns  us  by  the  Apostle, 
and  says  :  There  must  be  heresies,  that  they  who  are  approved 
may  be  manifest  amongst  you  (1  Cor.  xi.  19).  Thus  are  the 
faithful  approved,  thus  the  faithless  detected  :  and  thus  even 
here,  before  the  day  of  judgment,  the  souls  of  the  righteous 
are  divided  from  the  unrighteous,  and  the  wheat  is  separated 
from  the  chaff.  These  are  they  who,  without  appointment 
from  God,  take  upon  themselves  of  their  own  will  to  preside 
over  the  rash  persons  who  have  been  brought  together,  estab 
lish  themselves  as  rulers  without  any  lawful  ordination,  and 
assume  unto  themselves  the  name  of  bishop,  though  no  one 
gives  them  a  bishopric."  ' — Ibid.  p.  399. 

"  The  faith  and  firmness  of  the  Apostles  did  not  fail  in  con 
sequence  of  the  secession  of  the  traitor  Judas  from  their 
society ;  nor  is  the  sanctity  and  dignity  of  the  confessors 
amongst  us  necessarily  impaired,  because  the  faith  of  certain 

1  Sine  ulla  lege  ordinationis  .  .  .  nemine  episcopatum  dante.  Novatian, 
who  is  here,  and  in  similar  passages,  principally  aimed  at  by  St.  Cyprian, 
writes  as  follows  in  his  Liber  de  Trinitate,  c.  29  (Gotland,  t.  iii.  p.  312,  and 
in  Tertullian,  Ed.  Rigalt.  p.  728):  "Whosoever  shall  blaspheme  against 
the  Holy  Ghost  shall  not  have  forgiveness,  not  only  in  this  world,  but  not 
even  in  the  world  to  come.  It  was  this  spirit  that  in  the  Apostles  bore  testi 
mony  to  Christ  ;  that,  in  the  martyrs,  showed  forth  the  unswerving  con 
stancy  of  religion ;  that,  in  the  virgins,  enclosed  the  admirable  continency 
of  sealed  chastity  .  .  .  destroys  heretics  .  .  .  and  preserves  the  Church  in 
the  holiness  of  perpetual  virginity  and  truth." 


2 1 0  IXDEFECTIBILIT  Y 

of  them  has  given  way.  The  blessed  Paul  in  his  epistle  thus 
speaks,  For  what  if  some  of  them  have  fallen  away  from  the 
faith  f  shall  their  unbelief,  &c.  (Rom.  iii.)  The  greater  and 
better  portion  of  the  confessors  remain  firm  in  the  strength  of 
their  faith,  and  in  the  truth  of  the  law  and  teaching  of  the 
Lord ;  neither  do  they,  who  remember  that  God  has  declared 
them  worthy  to  find  grace  in  His  Church,  retire  from  the 
peace  of  the  Church,  and  thereby  their  faith  obtains  the 
greater  praise,  because  they  have  withdrawn  from  the  perfidy 
of  those  who  had  associated  in  the  fellowship  of  their  confes 
sion." — Ibid.  I.  c.  For  similar  passages  see  the  extracts  from 
De  Unitate,  under  the  head  "  Unity" 

ST.  ARCHELAUS,  G.  C.1 — u  I  will  state  briefly,  for  the  infor 
mation  of  all  present,  who  and  whence,  and  what  sort  of  man, 
this  Manes  is  ;  for  he  has  declared  himself  to  be  that  Paraclete 
whom  Jesus,  when  going  to  (the  Father),  promised  to  send  to 
the  human  race,  for  the  salvation  of  faithful  souls.  .  .  . 
Whereby,  perhaps  in  ignorance,  he  would  make  Jesus  guilty 
of  falsehood  :  for  He  who  said  that  He  would,  not  much  later, 
send  the  Paraclete,  is  found,  after  three  hundred  years  and 
more,  to  have  sent  this  man,  as  he  testifies  of  himself.  What 
will  they  say  to  Jesus,  in  the  day  of  judgment,  they  who  have 
departed  this  life  from  that  time  to  this  ?  Will  not  this  be 
their  plea  before  Him  :  '  Do  not  torment  us  if  we  have  not 
done  Thy  works.  For  why,  though  Thou  didst  promise,  un 
der  Tiberius  Caesar,  to  send  a  Paraclete  who  should  convince 
us  of  sin  and  of  justice,  hast  Thou  at  last  sent  him,  under  the 
Roman  emperor  Probus;  why  hast  Thou  left  us  orphans, 
though  Thou  didst  say,  IwiU  not  leave  you  orphans  ;  though 
Thou  saidst,  that,  as  soon  as  Thou  shouldst  go,  Thou  wouldst 
send  the  Paraclete  ?  What  could  we  orphans  do  without  a 
guardian?  We  have  not  sinned;  Thou  hast  deceived  us.' 
But  God  forbid  that  such  should  be  applicable  to  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Saviour  of  every  soul.  For  He  delayed  not 

1  A  bishop  of  Mesopotamia,  about  the  year  277.     His  discussion  with 
Manichseus  is  given  by  Gallandius,  t.  iii.  BiU.  Vet.  Scr. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  211 

the  fulfilment  of  the  promises,  but  having  said,  /  go  to  my 
Father,  and  I  send  the  Paraclete  unto  you,  He  sent  him  at 
once,  distributing  and  giving  to  His  disciples,  but  bestowing 
in  greater  fulness  on  Paul."— Disputat.  cum  Manete,  Gal- 
land,  t.  iii.  pp.  585,  586.  The  same  argument  is  urged  at 
greater  length,  at  pp.  592,  593. 

ST.  METHODIUS,  G.  C.— "  The  woman  that  appeared  in 
heaven  clothed  with  the  sun,"  &c.,  as  given  under  "Au 
thority."  For  a  similar  passage  in  explanation  of  Eplies.  v. 
25,  see  ibid.  or.  iii.  n.  8,  p.  688,  ap.  Combefis.  p.  81. 

ST.  YICTORINUS,  L.  C. — Explaining  Apoc.  xxi.  21-25,  he 
says :  "  We  believe  the  twelve  gates  to  be  the  number  of  the 
Apostles  .  .  .  and  that  the  gates  cannot  be  shut,  manifestly 
proves  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Apostles  cannot  by  any  storm 
of  gainsayers  be  severed  from  the  truth,1  even  though  the 
waves  of  the  Gentiles,  and  the  vain  superstitions  of  heretics, 
rise  up  against  their  true  faith  ;  overcome,  they  shall  be,  as  the 
foaming  waves,  scattered,  because  the  rock  is  Christ,  by  whom 
and  through  whom  the  Church  is  founded."— Schol.  in  Apocal. 
Galland.  t.  iv.  p.  64. 

CENTURY    IV. 

LACTANTIUS,  L.  C.— "  From  all  this  it  is  manifest,  that  all 
the  prophets  foretold  of  Christ,  that  the  time  would  come 
that,  being  born  in  the  flesh  of  the  family  of  David,  He  would 
build  up  to  God  an  everlasting  temple,  called  the  Church,  and 
would  summon  all  nations  to  the  true  religion  of  God.  This 
is  the  faithful  house,  this  the  immortal  temple,  wherein  if  a 
man  sacrifice  not,  he  shall  not  have  the  reward  of  immortality.3 
Of  which  great  and  everlasting  temple,  since  Christ  was  the 
builder,  the  same  must  needs  have  therein  an  everlasting 
priesthood.  Nor  can  there  be  access  to  the  temple,  and  to  the 
sight  of  God,  save  through  Him  who  established  that  temple. 

1  Nulla  contradicentium  tempestate    apostolorum    doctrinam    separari 
rectitudine. 

2  Haec  est  domus  fidelis;  hoc  immortale  templum,  in  quo  si  quis  non 
sacnficavent,  imraortalitatis  premium  non  habebit. 


212  INDEFECTIBILITY 

In  the  109th  Psalm  David  teaches  this  very  thing,  saying,  Be 
fore  the  day  star  I  begot  thee.  The  Lord  hath  sworn  and  He 
will  not  repent  :  Thou  art  a  priest  for  ever  according  to  the 
order  of  Melchisedech."  —  Divin.  Instit.  lib.  iv.  c.  14  ;  Gal- 
land.  t.  iv.  p.  295  ;  and  Oxon.  1684,  p.  351. 

ST.  ALEXANDER  OF  ALEXANDRIA,  G.  C.—  "  We  also  confess  one, 
and  one  only  Catholic,  the  Apostolic  Church,  wliich  is  always 
incapable  of  being  overthrown,1  even  though  the  whole  world 
choose  to  war  with  it  ;  and  it  is  triumphant  over  every  most 
unhallowed  revolt  of  the  heterodox  ;  the  master  of  the  house 
hold  Himself  having  made  us  confident,  in  that  He  exclaims  : 
Have  confidence,  I  have  overcome  the  wwld  (St.  John  xvi.)"- 
Ep.  de  Arian.  Ilceres.  Gotland,  t.  iv.  p.  450. 

EUSEBIUS,  G.  C.  —  "  The  Saviour  prophesied  that  His  doctrine 
would  be  preached  over  the  whole  world,  wherever  man  was, 
as  a  testimony  to  all  the  nations  ;  and,  by  a  divine  foreknow 
ledge,  He  foretold  that  the  Church  too,  which,  during  the  years 
of  His  sojourning  amongst  men,  was  not  seen  nor  established, 
should  be  invincible,  incapable  of  overthrow,3  and  never  be 
overcome  by  death  ;  but  should,  according  to  His  declaration, 
stand  and  continue  immovable,  as  being,  by  His  power,  firmly 
established  and  imbedded  on  a  rock  that  could  not  be  moved 
nor  broken.  Better  than  all  reasoning,  with  good  cause  should 
the  accomplishment  of  this  prophecy  put  to  silence  the  un 
bridled  tongues  of  all  who,  unchecked  by  shame,  are  ever  ready 
to  give  proof  of  their  audacity.  .  .  .  For  the  fame  of  His  Gos 
pel  has  filled  every  country  which  the  sun  illumines  ;  it  has 
traversed  all  nations  ;  and  even  now,  in  accordance  with  His 
words,  the  preaching  concerning  Him  is  more  widely  diffused 
and  increased  :  and  His  Church,  of  which  He  prophesied  by 
name,  has  stood,  and  has  struck  deep  its  roots,  and,  by  the 
prayers  of  men  holy  and  beloved  of  God,  it  has  been  exalted 
to  the  very  heavens,  and  daily  is  more  glorified,  scattering 


1  Miav  nai  iiovrjv  xa&oXiKr}v,  TTJV 
fj.ev  del. 
Hat 


OP  THE   CHURCH.  213 

everywhere  the  intellectual  and  divine  light  of  that  holiness 
which  He  evangelized,  in  no  wise  overcome,  nor  in  any  thing 
yielding  to  its  enemies,  or  even  to  the  gates  of  death  ;  and  this 
because  of  that  one  word  which  He  uttered,1  saying,  /  will 
build  my  Church  upon  a  rock,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not 
prevail  against  it."—  Prop.  Evangel.  1.  i.  c.  3,  p.  7,  ed. 
Paris.  1628.  For  a  similar  application  of  this  text,  see  Comm. 
in  Ps.  xvii.  t.  i.  p.  63  (  Montfaucori)  ;  Ibid.  p.  190;  Ibid.  p. 
616  ;  and  lib.  ii.  De  Resurr.  Galland.  t.  iv.  p.  496. 

"  Rejoice  and  be  glad,  0  daughter  ofSion,  for  behold  1  come, 
and  1  will  dwell  in  the  midst  of  thee  (Zach.  ii.  10).  We  have 
believed  that  the  God  Word  dwells  in  the  midst  of  the  Church,' 
as  He  promised,  saying  :  Behold  I  am  with  you  all  days, 
even  to  the  consummation  of  the  world  ;  and,  Where  two  or 
three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the 
midst  of  them"  —  Dem.  Evang.  1.  v.  c.  26,  p.  252. 

"  That  Christ  is  with  us,  His  priests,  we  know  from  His  say 
ing,  Lo,  I  will  be  with  you,  He  said,  all  the  days  of  your 
life,3  even  to  the  consummation  of  the  world."  —  Contra  Mar- 
cell.  Ancyr.  Lib.  ii.  p.  26. 

"On  account  of  these  passages,  Marcellus  recognizes  the 
body  of  the  glory  of  the  Son,  and  denies  that  His  kingdom  is 
to  be  without  end  ;  not  having  perceived  that  the  word  i  until  ' 
is  often  to  be  taken  in  a  sense  peculiar  to  the  Scriptures.  For 
thus  the  Saviour  spoke  to  His  disciples  :  Lo  I  am  with  you  all 
days,  until  the  consummation  of  the  world  :  not  denying  that 
He  would  be  with  them  also  after  the  consummation,  but 
teaching  that  even  now  He  is  with  them,  overlooking  and 
keeping4  all  who  have  become  His  disciples."  —  Ibid.  c.  xiv. 
p.  182. 

"  The  Psalmist  teaches  that  unseen  and  secret  abiding  of  the 


1  Aid  niav  kKzivrjv  TJV  avroS  ditEcprfvaro  \£%iv. 
"2  Ev  /LieGep  yap  TrjS  £KKfaj6ia$  rov  ®sdv  \oyov 


.  .  .  Ttd6a.<-> 
rd<3  tfjue'paS  rrj*-,  £0077$ 

4  EitidKOTtGor  Hat  <pvA.drra)v. 


214  INDEFECTIBILIT  Y 

Saviour  with  men  after  His  ascension,  even  until  now,  saying  : 
And  He  made  darkness  His  covert,  His  pavilion  round  about 
Him  dark  water  in  the  clouds  of  ike  air  (Ps.  xvii.  12).  For 
no  one  is  ignorant  how  He  abides  with  us,  agreeably  to  that 
saying  of  His,  Lo  I  am  with  you  all  days,  even  to  the  consum 
mation  of  the  world  ;  and  He  points  out  no  other  pavilion  of 
His  than  the  holy  Church,  in  which  He  promised  that  he  would 
pitch  His  tent,  saying  :  Where  two  or  three  are  gathered  to 
gether  in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them" — Com. 
in  Ps.  xvii.  t.  1,  p.  62.  Nova  Collect.  Montfaucon.  See  also 
the  extract  from  Comm.  in  Ps.  lix.  given  under  "  Authority." 

"  In  His  days  shall  justice  spring  up  and  abundance  of 
peace  (Ps.  Ixxi.  7).  The  days  of  our  Saviour  are  to  be  under 
stood  as  being,  from  His  advent  even  to  the  consummation  of 
the  world.  For  as  we  hear  it  said,  In  the  days  of  David, 
and,  now  tJie  days  of  Jeroboam,  so  are  we  to  take  the  days 
of  our  Saviour.  But  they,  when  they  had  lived  for  a  short 
while,  quickly  passed  away,  therefore  also  have  their  days 
failed,  whilst  the  word  spoken  already  has  manifested  what  are 
the  days  of  our  Saviour,1  saying,  He  shall  continue  with  the 
sun,  and  before  the  moon  throughout  all  generations  (/&.)>  in 
accordance  with  which  words  Himself  promised  His  disciples : 
Behold  I  am  with  you  even  to  the  consummation  of  the 
world.  For  thus  was  He  to  continue  with  the  sun." — Comm. 
in  Ps.  Ixxi.  1. 1,  p.  407.  See  also  Ibid.  p.  412,  Ibid,  in  Ps. 
Ixxvi.  p.  461.  For  a  similar  interpretation  of  the  words 
of  St.  Matthew,  see  the  treatise  De  eo  quod  ait  Dominus  : 
non  veni  pacem. — Gotland,  t.  iv.  p.  522. 

"  He,  therefore,  that  promised  to  build  His   Church  upon 

1  The  passage  here  referred  to  occurs  in  the  preceding  page  :— "  For  as 
the  sun,  when  it  rises  above  the  earth,  makes  the  day,  and  as  the  moon 
with  her  light  dispels  the  darkness  of  night,  so  also  He  that  is  here  foretold, 
like  unto  the  moon,  enlightens  the  souls  that  are  in  darkness,  and  in  night; 
and  like  the  sun,  He  illuminates  the  whole  world,  and  endures  and  abides 
unto  the  consummation  of  the  world.  For,  as  long  as  the  sun  gladdens  the 
whole  world,  so  long  He  also,  abiding  and  enduring  with  the  sun,  enlightens 
the  souls  of  men,  and  like  the  full  moon,  so  is  He  said  to  abide  unto  genera 
tions  and  generations." 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  215 

a  rock,  so  as  that  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it, 
He  will  be  its  guard  and  protector,  fencing  it  round  and  pro 
tecting  it,  in  order  that  the  gates  of  hell  may  not  prevail  against 
it."— Ibid,  in  Ps.  xc.  p.  594.  See  also  the  extract  given  un 
der  "Apostolicity,"  from  «  Comm.  in  Ps.  Ixxxi.  t.  1,  Nova 
Collect.  Montfaucon." 

ST.  HILARY  OF  POITIERS,  L.  C. — See  the  extract  already 
given  under  "  Unity;'  from  De  Trinit.  I.  vii.  n.  4. 

"  "Who  does  not  see,  who  does  not  understand  ?  at  the  end 
of  well-nigh  four  hundred  years,  after  that  the  only-begotten 
Son  of  God  vouchsafed  to  come  to  the  rescue  of  the  human 
race,  a  novel  and  most  foul  infection,  not  of  the  corrupted  at 
mosphere,  but  of  execrable  blasphemies,  the  Arian  plague  has 
now  spread  itself  abroad,  as  if  hitherto  there  had  been  no 
Apostles,  nor,  after  their  martyrdom  and  deaths,  any  Chris 
tians.  So  then,  they  who  have  hitherto  believed,  have  had  but 
an  empty  hope  of  immortality  ?  We  have  lately  learned  that 

these  devices  have  for  their  inventors  the  two  Eusebiuses." 

Ad  Const.  Aug.  Lib.  1,  n.  5,  pp.  537,  538. 

ST.  ATHANASIUS,  G.  C.— "  All  heresies  that  have  abandon 
ed  the  truth,  are  manifestly  seen  to  have  invented  for  them 
selves  a  madness,1  and  their  irreligion  has  long  since  become 
manifest  to  all  men.  For  it  is  clear  that  the  inventors  of 
these  things  went  out  from  us,  as  the  blessed  John  has  writ 
ten,  since  the  opinions  of  these  men  neither  were,  nor  are  they 
now,  ours.  Therefore,  too,  as  the  Saviour  said,  not  gathering 
with  us,  they  scatter  with  the  devil,  watching  for  the  sleep 
ers,  in  order  that  sowing  their  own  venom  of  destruction, 
they  may  have  partners  in  death.  And  since  one,  and  that 
the  latest,  of  the  heresies,  and  which  has  just  now  come  forth, 
the  forerunner  of  antichrist,  that  called  the  Arian,  being  full 
of  wiles  and  wickedness,  perceiving  that  the  sister  heresies, 
its  elders,  have  been  publicly  branded,  affects  to  clothe  itself 
in  the  language  of  Scripture,  as  did  its  father  the  devil, 
and  strives  again  to  enter  into  the  Eden  of  the  Church,  with 

n  juaviar  tavTaZS. 


216  INDEFECTIBILITY 

the  view  that  having  framed  itself  as  Christian,  it  may,  by 
the  deceitfulness  of  false  arguments,  lead  astray  some  in  their 
opinions  concerning  Christ.  ...  I  have  thought  it  needful  at 
your  solicitation,  to  unrip  the  folds  of  its  breastplate  (Job.  xli. 
4),  and  to  show  the  ill  savor  of  its  folly." — Orat.  1,  Contr. 
Arian.  n.  \,p.  319. 

"  Unless  the  Lord  build  the  house,  and  keep  the  city,  in 
vain  do  the  laborers  build  and  the  watchmen  guard  (Ps. 
cxxvi.  2).  Therefore  is  the  Jewish  system  destroyed,  for  it 
was  a  shadow  ;  but  that  of  the  Church  is  firmly  established, 
for  it  is  built  upon  the  rock,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not 
prevail  against  it" — 0 ratio  iv.  Contr.  Arian.  n.  34,  t.  1, 
p.  510. 

Explaining  Ps.  Ixxxviii.  38,  "  And  His  throne  as  the  sun 
"before  me  :  understand,  by  the  thro  fie  of  Christ,  the  Church  ; 
for  in  it  He  rests.  The  Church  of  Christ,  then,  he  says,  shall 
be  refulgent  and  enlighten  all  under  heaven,  and  be  abiding 
as  the  sun  and  the  moon.  For  this  passage  says  so:  His 
throne  as  the  sun  before  me,  and  as  the  moon  perfect  for  ever, 
and  a  faithful  witness  in  heaven." — Expos,  in  Ps.  p.  922,  t.  1. 

Speaking  of  the  councils  of  Ariminum  and  of  Seleucia, 
wherein  the  Arians,  supported  by  the  Emperor  Constantius, 
endeavored  to  subvert  the  council  of  Nicaea,  he  says :  "  What 
pressed  so  much,  that  the  whole  world  was  to  be  disturbed, 
and  that  they  who  at  this  time  were  called  clerics  must  run 
up  and  down,  and  seek  how  they  might  learn  to  believe  on 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  ?  For  if  they  believed,  they  would  not 
have  sought  as  men  that  had  not  found ;  and  this  was  to  the 
catechumens  no  small  scandal,  and  to  the  Gentiles  it  was  some 
thing  more  than  common,  and  even  furnished  them  abundant 
matter  for  laughter ;  that  Christians,  as  if  just  roused  from 
sleep,  should  be  inquiring  how  they  ought  to  believe  concerning 
Christ ;  whilst  their  professed  clerics,  though  as  teachers  claim 
ing  deference  from  the  people,  have  convicted  themselves  of 
being  without  faith,  by  seeking  what  they  have  not.  .  .  . 
What  defect  of  teaching  unto  true  religion  was  there  in  the 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  217 

Catholic  Church,1  that  they  should  now  be  in  search  after  faith, 
and  should  prefix  the  consulate  of  the  present  period  to  the 
declarations  which  they  have  set  down,  about  faith  to  wit  ? 
Ursacius,  and  Valens,  and  Germinius,  and  their  associates,  have 
done  what  never  happened,  what  never  was  heard  of  amongst 
Christians  :  for,  having  written  what  they  pleased  to  believe, 
they  prefixed  to  it  the  consulate,  and  the  month,  and  the  day 
of  the  present  year  :  thereby  to  show  all  prudent  men,  that 
the  faith  of  these  men  has  its  beginning,  not  at  any  prior  pe 
riod,  but  now,  under  Constantius.  .  .  .  These  men  having  writ 
ten  '  The  faith  is  now  published,'  have  shown  that  the  senti 
ment  of  their  heresy  is  recent,  and  that  it  was  not  before.  But 
if  they  have  added  '  of  the  Catholic  (Church)  '  2  they  have  inad 
vertently  fallen  into  the  extravagance  of  the  Cataphrygians, 
even  so  as  to  say  with  them,  '  To  us  first  was  revealed,'  and, 
'  From  us  begins  the  faith  of  Christians.'  And  as  they  write 
on  it  Maximilla  and  Montanus,  so  do  these  inscribe  it  with 
'  Constantius,  sovereign,'  instead  of  Christ.  But  if,  accord 
ing  to  them,  the  faith  dates  from  this  consulate,  what  will  the 
fathers  and  the  blessed  martyrs  do  ?  And  what  will  they  too 
do  with  those  instructed  by  themselves,  and  who  have  slept 
before  this  consulate  ?  How  will  they  wake  them  up  to  oblit 
erate  what  they  once  taught  them,  and  sow  in  them  what  they 
have  just  now,  as  having  made  a  discovery,  committed  to  writ 
ing  ?  So  ignorant  are  they  ;  skilful  only  in  framing  excuses, 
and  those  unbecoming  and  implausible,  and  which  have  at 
hand  their  refutation.  Whereas  the  synod  of  Nicsea  was  not 
a  common  meeting,  but  there  was  an  urgent  need  for  it,  and  a 
reasonable  object.  .  .  .  They  wrote  indeed  respecting  Easter, 
'  It  has  seemed  good  as  follows  :  '  for  it  did  then  seem  good 
that  there  should  be  a  general  compliance  ;  but  as  regards 
faith,  they  wrote  not,  '  It  has  seemed  good,'  but  '  Thus  believes 
the  Catholic  Church,'  and  at  once  confessed,  how  they  believed, 
thereby  to  show  that  their  sentiment  was  not  novel,  but  apos- 


Ti  yap  skeins  didatiKaTttaS  siS  svGefieiav  r%  KaOofanfi  £HH\.rj<5iqi. 


218  INDEFECTIBILITY 

tolical ;  and  that  what  they  wrote  down  was  not  a  discovery 
of  their  own,  but  the  same  as  the  Apostles  had  taught." — De 
Synodis.  n.  2-5,  t.  1,  pp.  573-5.1 

ST.  ZENO,  L.  C. — "  If  the  Church  is  therefore  the  spouse  of 
Christ  because  it  is  chaste,  and  therefore  honored  with  the 
yoke  of  a  heavenly  marriage,  because  even  after  the  nuptials 
she  thenceforward  continues  for  ever  a  virgin  ; 2  we  who  are 
born  of  so  excellent  a  union,  <fec." — Lib.  1,  Tract,  iv.  de  Pu- 
dicit.  n.  1,  Galland.  t.  v.p.  115. 

ST.  CYRIL  OF  JERUSALEM,  Gr.  C. — "  Of  old  the  Psalmist 
sung,  In  the  Church  bless  ye  God  the  Lord,  from  the  foun 
tains  of  Israel  (Ps.  Ixvii.  27).  But  since  the  Jews,  through 
their  evil  designs  against  the  Saviour,  have  been  cast  away 
from  grace,  the  Saviour  has  built  out  of  the  Gentiles  a  second 
holy  Church,  the  Church  of  us  Christians,  concerning  which 
He  said  to  Peter,  And  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  Church, 
and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it ;  and  prophe 
sying  concerning  both  these  (churches),  David  said  plainly  of 
the  first  that  was  rejected,  I  have  hated  the  church  of  the  evil 
doers ;  but,  of  the  second  which  is  built  up,  he  says  in  the 
same  Psalm,  In  the  churcJies  will  I  bless  Tliee,  O  Lord.  For 
that  one  Church,  that  was  in  Judea,  having  been  cut  off,  the 
churches  of  Christ  thenceforward  are  increased  throughout 


1  The  language  of  the  Catholic  bishops  at  the  Nicaean  Council  is  to  the 
same  effect.  "Marvelling  at  the  deceitful  language  (of  the  Arians),  and 
their  guileful  intentions,  they  said,  *  We  have  not  assembled  here  because  in 
need  of  faith,  for  we  have  within  us  sound  faith ;  but  that  we  may  put  to 
shame  those  who  impugn  the  truth,  and  are  attempting  to  innovate.  If, 
then,  you  have  written  these  things  as  if  now  beginning  to  believe,  you  are 
not  clerics,  but  just  beginning  your  catechism:  but  if  you  meet  us  with  the 
same  views  with  which  we  have  assembled  here,  let  there  be  a  general 
unanimity,  and  let  us  anathematize  the  heresies,  and  preserve  the  teaching 
of  the  fathers."— Ibid.  De  Synod,  n.  9,  p.  557.  In  the  Orat.  quod  Christus 
unus  sit,  of  which  the  Ben.  editors  say,  "Jam  pridem  eruditorum  fuit 
opinio  hunc  librum  nequaquam  videri  Athanasianum,  licet  antiqui  cujusdam 
et  eruditi  viri  opus  esse  palam  sit,"  an  opinion  also  entertained  by  Petavius, 
we  read,  "  A  faithful  and  unchangeable  word,  that  the  Church  is  invincible, 
even  though  the  gates  of  hell  be  against  it,  even  though  hell  itself  be  stirred 
against  it.  etc."  Given  in  t.  ii.  Op.  S.  Ath. 

8  Etiam  post  nuptias  manet  postmodum  virgo  perpetua. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  219 

the  whole  world ;  concerning  which  churches  it  is  said  in  the 
Psalms,  Sing  to  the  Lord  a  new  canticle,  His  praise  in  the 
assembly  of  the  saints.  Agreeably  to  which  also  has  the  pro 
phet  said  to  the  Jews,  I  have  no  will  in  you,  saith  the  Lord 
Almighty  ;  and  immediately  after,  Therefore  from  the  rising 
of  the  sun,  even  to  the  going  down,  my  name  shall  he  glorified 
among  the  Gentiles  (Malach.  i.)  Concerning  this  same  holy 
Catholic  Church,  Paul  writes  to  Timothy  :  That  thou  mayest 
know  how  to  conduct  thyself  in  the  house  of  God,  which  is 
the  pillar  and  ground  of  truth" — Catech.  xviii.  n.  25,^?.  297. 

ST.  OPTATUS  OF  MILEVIS,  L.  C. — See  the  extracts  given 
under  "  Unity"  especially  pp.  159,  160,  et  seqq. 

LUCIFEK  OF  CAGLIAKI,  L.  C. — "  Thus  shall  you  speak  to 
Ezechias,  king  of  Judah  :  Let  not  thy  God  deceive  thee,  in 
whom  thou  trusteth,  saying  Jerusalem  shall  not  be  given  into 
the  hands  of  the  king  of  the  Assyrians  (Is.  xxxvii.  10). 
Even  thus,  thou  blasphemer,  art  thou  in  dangers,  and  seest 
them  not ;  whilst  we  see  God's  worshippers  safe  guarded  arid 
uninjured.  Whence  is  our  safeguard  and  defence,  but  in  that 
we  hold  fast  the  holy  faith  which  patriarchs,  prophets,  and 
martyrs  held,  and  which  thou,  Constantius,  hast  branded  as 
heretical."— Pro  8.  Athan.  Lib.  1,  n.  51,  p.  177.  This  test 
of  truth  is  advanced  by  Lucifer  in  almost  every  third  page. 
See  Ibid.  n.  56,  p.  179.  Ibid.  L.  ii.  n.  S,p.  181,  et  passim. 

"  The  battle  raised  by  thy  cruelty,  Constantius,  rages  more 
violently;  but  see  how  the  glory  of  the  soldiers  of  Christ 
keeps  pace  too.  .  .  .  The  pangs  inflicted  by  the  tormentors, 
and  thy  cruel  punishments,  conquer  us  not ;  because  He  abides 
in  us  and  is  established  with  us,  who  said  to  the  holy  Apostles, 
/  am  with  you  all  days,  even  to  the  consummation  of  the 
world." — Moriend.pro  Dei  Fil.  n.  8,  Gotland,  t.  v\.p.  248. 

"Take  hold  gladly  of  what  may  lead  thee  to  the  feast 
of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  those  friends  of  God,  thou  man 
of  utter  injustice,  who  hast  dared  to  account  thyself  just,  set 
ting  thyself  above  all  those  who  have  been  constituted  bishops 
of  the  Church,  by  God's  judgment,  and  repudiating  that  holy 


220  INDEFECTIBILITY 

faith  which  the  Church  now  holds,  and  has  always  held."— 
Moriend.  pro  Dei  Filio,  n.  22,  GaUand.  t.  vi.p.  253. 

ST.  EPHR^M  SYRUS,  G.  C.— On  Exod.  xxv.  9,  he  says  :  "  He 
seems  to  have  designated  the  tabernacle  of  the  Old  Testament 
a  likeness,  or  a  type,  and  a  temporary  tabernacle,  thereby  to 
intimate  that  it  was  to  last  but  for  a  time,  and  that,  when  at 
last  set  aside,  for  it  would  be  substituted  the  Church  of  Christ, 
and  that  this,  as  being  a  perfect  and  complete  pattern  of  the 
heavenly  tabernacle,  would  abide  for  ever." — T.  1,  P.  2,  Syr. 
Comm.  in  Exod.  p.  223. 

'  Thou  hast  also  built  a  Church  on  earth,  which  resembles 
the  Church  triumphant  (in  heaven) :  its  foundations  love  im 
pelled  Thee  to  lay,  and  grace  presided  at  its  completion.  Thou 
hast  also  taken  it  as  Thy  spouse,  and  hast  made  it  Thine  at  the 
price  of  Thy  blood.  But  since  the  wicked  adversary  of  man, 
and  his  satellites  and  ministers,  are  striving  to  overthrow  so 
glorious  a  structure,  do  Thou,  therefore,  O  Lord,  guard  it  under 
Thy  protection,  that  the  gates  of  hell  may  not  prevail  against 
it;  that  its  inherent  beauty  perish  not ;  that,  in  fine,  its  trea 
sures,  filled  with  every  kind  of  wealth,  fail  not,  and  be  not 
exhausted.  Fulfil,  O  Lord,  what  Thou  didst  promise  to  Peter, 
the  prince  of  the  Apostles."— T7.  iii.  Syr.  Param,.  62,  p.  532. 

DIDYMUS  OF  ALEXANDRIA,  G.  C.— See  the  extract  under  "Au 
thority." 

ST.  PACIAN,  L.  C.— "  An  heretical  congregation  is  an  adulter 
ess  woman  :  for  the  Catholic  hath  never  from  the  beginning  left 
the  couch  and  the  chamber  of  her  spouse,  nor  gone  after  other 
and  strange  lovers.  Ye  have  painted  a  divorced  form  in  new 
colors ;  ye  have  withdrawn  your  couch  from  the  old  wedlock ; 
ye  have  left  the  body  of  a  mother,  the  wife  of  one  husband,  deck 
ing  yourselves  out  with  new  arts  of  pleasing,  new  allurements  of 
corruption."—^,  iii.  GaUand,  t.  vii.  See  also  the  extract,  given 
under  "The  Sacrament  of  Penance,"  from  the  same  epistle. 

THEOPHILUS  OF  ALEXANDRIA,  G.  C.1— "  The  Lord  who  thus 

1  He  was  made  priest  in  the  year  385  and  died  in  412.  What  remains  of 
his  writings  is  collected  by  Gallandius,  t.  viii. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  221 

spoke  to  the  prophet :  Lo,  I  have  set  thee  this  day  over  the  na 
tions  and  over  kingdoms,  to  root  up,  and  to  pull  down,  and  to 
waste,  and  to  build  up  again  and  to  plant  (Jer.  i.  10),  bestows 
at  all  times  the  same  grace  upon  His  Church  ;  that  the  body  may 
be  preserved  whole,  and  that  the  poisons  of  heretical  dogmas 
may  in  nothing  prevail." — Ep.  ad  EpipJi.  Gotland,  t.  vii.£>.  645. 

ST.  EPIPHANIUS,  G.  C. — "  Herod  a  stranger  was  then  king, 
and  the  descendants  of  David  no  longer  wore  the  diadem.  And 
after  the  royal  throne  had  been  transferred,  the  regal  dignity 
was  made  to  pass,  in  Christ,  from  the  carnal  household  of  Judah, 
and  from  Jerusalem,  unto  the  Church.  And  that  throne  is 
firmly  established  in  the  holy  Church  of  God  for  ever." 1 — T.  i. 
Adv.  Hceres.  (29),  p.  118. 

"  Such  as  these  have  no  power  against  the  ark  ;  for  holy 
Noah  received  a  commission,  according  to  the  word  of  the 
Lord,  to  secure  it ;  as  the  Lord  said  unto  him,  Thou  shalt  pitch 
it  within  and  without  ( Gen.  vi.  14)  ;  that  he  might  thereby 
point  out  the  semblance  of  the  holy  Church  of  God,  which 
has  that  efficacy  of  pitch,  which  repels  pernicious  and  destruc 
tive  and  serpent-like  doctrines.  For  where  is  the  smell  of  pitch, 
there  the  snake  is  unable  to  remain." — Jb.  Adv.  Ilwres.  (51), 
p.  423. 

"  But  I  have  already  been  busied  on  all  these  matters  in  that 
great  work  concerning  the  faith,  to  which  I  have  given  the  name 
of  the  anchorage  ;  wherein,  according  to  the  ability  of  my  poor 
understanding,  with  the  assistance  of  God,  having  collected,  out 
of  the  whole  of  Scripture,  the  truths  of  the  divine  testimony,  I 
have  clearly  laid  down,  as  an  anchor  foi*  those  that  wish  for  it, 
the  holy  faith  of  the  fathers,  which  is  both  apostolic  and  pro 
phetic,  and  which  from  the  beginning  even  until  now  has  been 
proclaimed  in  the  holy  Church  of  God,  in  order  to  check  and 
secure  the  mind  from  being  driven  about  by  the  devices  of  the 
devil,  and  to  prevent  its  being  injured  by  the  violent  agitation 
excited  in  the  world  by  the  heresies.  For  thus  did  the  Lord 
also  teach  His  disciples,  saying,  that,  If  what  you  have  heard 

l"Idpvrai  de  6  OpovoS  iv  rij  dyia.  rov  SEOV 


222  INDEFECTIBILITY 

from  the  beginning  abide  in  you,  you  shall  abide  in  me,  and 
I  in  you  ;  and  I  in  the  Father,  and  you  in  me.  As  therefore 
the  truths  of  the  faith,  which  were  from  the  beginning  heard 
from  the  Lord,  abide  in  the  holy  Church  of  God  ;  so  also  on 
this  account  do  the  holy  Church  of  God  and  the  orthodox  faith 
abide  in  the  Lord  ;  and  the  only-begotten  Lord  in  the  Father, 
the  Father  in  the  Son,  and  we  in  Him,  through  the  Holy  Ghost, 
provided  we  become  temples  fitted  to  receive  this  Holy  Spirit." 
— Adv.  Ifceres.  (69),j?j9.  751-2.  See  also  Adv.  Ilceres.  74,  given 
under  " Authority" 

Addressing  the  Anomaeans,  who  called  the  Catholics  tempo 
raries*  he  says,  "  The  holy  faith  of  God  being  from  the  begin 
ning,  and  ever  venerable  with  age,  though  it  never  grows  old, 
always  exists,  and  its  foundations  are  ever  firm  ;  it  always  sub 
sists,  having  a  Lord  that  is  unlimited  by  time.8  Wherefore 
neither  is  faith  limited  by  time,  but  ever  citizens  with  angels, 
and  makes  the  saints  glorious  from  generation  to  generation. 
Rather  art  tliou  temporary,3  led  as  thou  art  away  by  error,  and 
proud  of  mind.  .  .  .  None  of  the  ancients  thought  as  thou 
thinkest,  Aetius,  thou  that  writest  against  the  temporaries, 
thou  thyself  but  temporary,  and  without  antiquity." — Adv. 
Hares.  (76),  p.  932. 

"  This  was  befitting  that  first  of  the  Apostles,  that  firm  rock 
upon  which  the  Church  of  God  was  built,  and  the  gates  of  hell 
shall  not  prevail  against  it.  The  gates  of  hell  are  heresies  and 
heresiarchs."  4 — T.  ii.  Ancoratus,p.  14,  n.  ix.  [For  the  context, 
see  "Primacy  of  St.  Peter"  ].  See  also  Ibid.  n.  83,^?.  88. 

ST.  AMBROSE,  L.  C. — See  the  two  first  extracts  given  from 
this  father,  under  "  Authority." 

"  The  Church  too  hath  her  seasons,  of  persecutions,  to  wit, 
and  of  peace.  For  she  seems  to  wane  like  the  moon,  but  she 

1  Xpovirai. 

i'HQeov  dyia.  TtidnS  a7tapx,rjS  ov6a,  nat  del  dp^at^ovda  nai  urf 
itaXaiov/iievT},  E&TIV  a«i. 

3  Xpoj'ixo?. 

4  Ilvkai  8k  adov  ai  aipe6zi$,  Mat  oi 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  223 

fails  not.  She  may  be  overcast  with  clouds,  but  fail  she  can 
not  ; 1  she  is  indeed  lessened  by  the  falling  away  of  individuals 
in  the  time  of  persecution,  that  she  may  nil  up  her  orb  by  the 
confession  of  her  martyrs  ;  and  that,  made  resplendent  by  the 
victorious  shedding  of  their  blood  for  Christ,  she  may  shed 
more  brightly  the  light  of  her  devotion  and  faith  over  the 
whole  world.  For  the  moon  suffers  a  diminution  of  light,  not 
of  substance,  when,  in  her  monthly  changes,  she  seems  to 
quench  her  light,  that  she  may  borrow  from  the  sun." — T.  i. 
Ilexcem.  I.  iv.  c.  2,  n.  7,  p.  66.  See  also  Ibid.  I.  iii.  c.  12. 

"  The  Church  is  buffeted,  but  is  not  overwhelmed  by  the 
waves  of  worldly  cares ;  she  is  stricken,  but  is  not  weakened, 
being  easily  able  to  subdue  and  calm  down  the  agitation  of 
the  waves,  and  the  rebellion  of  the  passions  of  the  body. 
She  looks  on,  herself  free  and  exempt  from  danger,2  whilst 
others  are  shipwrecked,  always  prepared  to  have  Christ  shine 
upon  her,  and  to  derive  gladness  from  His  light." — T.  i.  De 
Abraham,  1.  ii.  c.  3,  n.  xi.  p.  318. 

"It  is  that  same  Peter  to  whom  He  said,  Thou  art  Peter, 
and  upon  this  rock  2  will  build  my  Church.  Therefore, 
where  Peter  is,  there  the  Church  is ;  where  the  Church  is, 
there  death  is  not,  but  life  eternal.  And  therefore  did  He  add, 
and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it  (or  Him), 
and  I  will  give  to  thee  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
Blessed  Peter,  against  whom  the  gate  of  hell  prevailed  not, 
the  gate  of  heaven  closed  not,  but  who,  on  the  contrary,  de 
stroyed  the  porches  of  hell,  and  opened  the  heavenly  places. 
Wherefore,  though  placed  on  earth,  he  opened  heaven,  and 
closed  hell."8— T7.  i.  In  Ps.  xl.  n.  30,  pp.  879-80. 

"  As  pure  gold,  so  also  the  Church,  when  tried  by  fire, 
suffers  no  loss,  but  its  brightness  is  the  rather  increased,  until 
the  time  when  Christ  shall  come  nnto  His  kingdom,  and  re- 

1  Obumbrari  potest,  deficere  non  potest. 

2  Nonsubruitur  .  .  .  non  labefactatur  .  .  .  ipsa  immunis  et  exors  periculi. 

3  Ubi  ecclesia,  ibi  nulla  rnors,  sed  vit.-i  jvtenia  .  .  .  non  praevalebunt  ei. 
Ccelum  aperuit,  inferos  clausit. 


224  INDEFECTIBI  LIT  Y 

cline  His  head  on  the  faitli  of  the  Church.  "When  He  came* 
to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel,  He  had  not  whereon 
to  lay  His  head,  but  now  faitli  is  already  diffused  as  a  per 
fume,  and  therefore  does  the  Church  say,  Jtfy  spikenard  sent 
forth,  an  odor" — 2b.  in  Ps.  cxviii.  (Gimel)  n.  1,p.  995. 

Commenting  on  St.  Luke  ix.  20,  he  says :  "  Thy  rock  is 
faith :  the  foundation  of  the  Church  is  faith.  If  thou  be  a 
rock,  thou  wilt  be  in  the  Church,  because  the  Church  is  upon 
a  rock.  If  thou  be  in  the  Church,  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not 
prevail  against  thee.  The  gates  of  hell  are  the  gates  of 
death,  but  the  gates  of  death  cannot  be  the  gates  of  the 
Church. — T.  i.  Expos,  in  Luc.  L.  vi.  n.  98,  p.  1407. 

ST.  JEROME,  L.  C. — u  I  congratulate  with  you  and  give 
thanks  to  Christ  my  God,  that,  with  a  holy  disposition,  you 
have,  from  the  falsehood  of  the  Sardinians,  turned  yourself 
to  the  sweet  savor  of  the  whole  world ;  and  that  you  do  not 
say,  after  the  fashion  of  some  men,  Save  me,  O  Lord,  for 
there  is  now  no  saint  (Ps.  xi.) ;  whose  impious  words  make 
void  the  cross  of  Christ ;  bring  the  Son  of  man  under  the 
yoke  of  the  devil ;  and  understand  the  complaint,  uttered  by 
the  Lord  concerning  sinners,  as  though  spoken  of  all  man 
kind  :  1\7tdt  profit  is  there  in  my  Hood,  wh  list  1  go  down  to 
corruption  (Ps.  xxix.)  But  God  forbid  that  a  God  should 
have  died  in  vain.  The  strong  one  has  been  bound,  and  his 
goods  rifled.  The  words  of  the  Father  have  been  fulfilled  : 
Ask  of  me,  and  I  will  give  Thee  the  Gentiles  for  Thine  in 
heritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  Tlnj pos 
session  (Ps.  ii.  8).  lie  hath  set  His  tabernacle  in  the  sun, 
and  there  is  no  one  that  can  hide  himself  from  His  heat  (Ps. 
xviii.)  Full  of  the  God,  the  Psalmist  sings,  The  swords  of 
the  enemy  have  failed  unto  the  end,  and  their  cities  Thou  hast 
destroyed  (Ps.  ix.)  And  where,  I  ask,  are  those  righteous 
overmuch,  yea,  profane  overmuch,  who  assert  that  the  syna 
gogues  are  more  numerous  than  the  churches  ?  Then,  how 
have  the  cities  of  the  devil  been  destroyed,  and  unto  the  end, 
that  is,  the  consummation  of  ages,  have  the  idols  fallen  down  ?'• 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  225 

If  Christ  have  not  a  Church,  or  if  He  have  one  in  Sardinia 
only,  He  has  become  beyond  all  measure  poor.  And  if  Satan 
have  possession  of  Britain,  the  Gauls,  the  East,  the  people  of 
India,  the  nations  of  barbarians,  and  of  the  whole  world  at 
once,  how  is  it  that  the  trophies  of  the  cross  have  been  re 
moved  to  the  corner  of  this  whole  world  ?  His  powerful  ad 
versary  has  forsooth  yielded  up  to  Christ  that  refuse  of  earth, 
Sardinia ;  he  would  not  own  those  ghastly  creatures,  and  their 
miserable  province." — T.  ii.  Adv.  Luciferi.  n.  14,  15,  col. 
186,  1ST.  See  also  the  extract  from  t.  ii.  col.  693,  under 
"  Supremacy  of  St.  Peter" 

Commenting  on.  Is.  iv.  5,  6,  "  We  refer  all  this  to  the  first 
advent  of  Christ,  concerning  whom  we  also  read  in  the 
Psalms,  He  hath  protected  me  in  the  secret  place  of  His 
tabernacle,  lie  hath  exalted  me  upon  a  rock  (Ps.  xxvi.) 
Upon  which  rock  the  Church  being  built,  it  is  not  shaken 
by  any  tempest,  it  is  not  overthrown  by  any  wind  or  hurri 
cane."  J  —  T.  iv.  in  Is.  col.  67.  See  also  the  extract  under 
"Authority,"  from  t.  iv.  col.  439,  440. 

"  I  will  my  sanctification,  or  my  sanctuary,  in  the  midst  of 
them  for  ever  (Ezech.  xxxvii.),  which  the  Jews  interpret  of 
the  temple  built  under  Zorobabel.  But  how  can  the  phrase 
for  ever  hold  good,  seeing  that  the  temple  built  by  Zoroba 
bel,  and  which  was  afterwards  restored  by  many  others,  was 
burnt  down  by  the  Eomans  ?  All  this  is  to  be  referred  to  the 
Church,  and  to  the  times  of  the  Saviour,  when  the  tabernacle 
was  set  in  the  Church ;  He  became  our  God,  and  we  His  peo 
ple."—  T.  v.  I.  xi.  In  Ezech.  col.  440. 

"  Hence  we  may  understand,  that  even  to  the  end  of  the 
world  the  Church  may  be  indeed  shaken  by  persecutions,  but 
never  can  be  overthrown  ;  be  tried,  not  conquered.  And  this 
will  be,  because  the  Lord  God  Almighty,  or  the  Lord  its  God, 
of  the  Church,  to  wit,  has  promised  that  He  will  effect  this  ;  and 
His  promise  is  nature's  law." a — T.  vi.  I.  iii.  c.  9,  In  Amos.  col.  358. 

1  Super  quam   (petram)   fundata  ecclesia  nulla  tempestate  concutitur, 
nullo  turbine  ventisque  subvertitur. 

2  Ecclesiam  usque  ad  finem  inundi,  concuti  quidem  persecutionibus,  sed 


226  INDEFECTIBILITY 

"  The  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it.  I  consider 
the  gates  of  hell  to  be  vices  and  sins,  or  certainly  the  doctrines 
of  heretics,  by  which  men  are  enticed  and  led  to  hell."  '  —  T. 
vii.  1.  iii.  in  MatL  col.  124.  See  the  extract  under  "Author 
ity"  from  t.  vii.  col.  244. 

ST.  J.  CHRYSOSTOM,  G.  C. — "  Christ's  prophecies  were  of  two 
kinds,  one  to  be  accomplished  in  this  world,  and  the  other 
after  its  consummation  ;  and  one  establishes  and  demonstrates 
with  great  completeness  the  truth  of  the  other.  I  will  give 
an  example,  for  what  has  been  said  is  obscure,  and  therefore 
will  I  try  to  make  it  plainer.  There  were  twelve  disciples 
that  followed  Him,  but  of  the  matter  of  the  Church  no  one 
had  at  that  time  formed  any  idea — nay,  no  one  knew  anything 
of  its  name.  What  then  did  He  say  and  prophesy,  when  well 
nigh  the  whole  world  was  held  in  godlessness  ?  Upon  this 
rock  I  will  build  my  Church,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not 
prevail  against  it.  Examine  the  declaration  as  you  please, 
and  you  will  see  its  resplendent  truth.  For  in  sooth  it  is  not 
alone  wonderful  that  He  built  it  throughout  the  universe,  but 
that  He  made  it  also  invincible,  though  assailed  by  so  great 
conflicts.2  For  the  gates  of  hell  are  dangers  that  lead  down  to 
hell.  Seest  thou  the  truth  of  the  prophecy  ?  Seest  thou  the 
force  of  the  event?  Seest  thou  words  shining  brightly  by 
deeds  ;  and  an  invincible  power  effecting  all  things  with  ease  ? 
For  do  not,  because  the  declaration,  I  will  build  my  Church, 
is  brief,  hurry  over  it  heedlessly ;  but  develop  it  in  your 
mind,  and  reflect  what  it  is  to  have,  in  a  short  time,  filled 
with  so  mighty  churches,  all  the  earth  beneath  the  sun.  [He 
then  adduces  the  usual  arguments  connected  with  the  propaga 
tion  of  Christianity.]  Thus  did  they  build  the  Church.  How 
and  in  what  manner  ?  By  His  power  who  gave  it  them  in 

nequaquam  posse  subvert! ;  tentari,  non  superari.  Et  hoc  fiet,  quia  Dorai- 
nus  .  .  .  se  facturum  esse  pollicitus  est ;  cujus  promissio  lex  naturas  est. 

1  Vel  certe  haereticorum  doctrinas,  per  quas  illecti  homines  ducuntur  ad 
tartarum. 

*  *Axzip<*)Tov  Elpya.6a.TO,  ual  dxEipwroy  vrto  rotiovroov 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  227 

command.     For  He  pioneered  the  way  before  them  ;  Himself 
making  all,  even  the  most  difficult  things,  easy.     For  had 
there  not  been  a  divine  power  that  was  bringing  things  to 
a  successful  issue,  they  would  not  even  have  had  a  begin 
ning  or  a  starting-place.     For  how  could  they  ?     But  He  that 
said,  Let  heaven  be,  and  produced  His  work,  and  Let  the  earth 
be  based,  and  produced  its  substance  ...  the  same  also  plant 
ed  these  churches.     And  that  very  declaration,  /  will  build 
my  Church,  effected  the  whole.     For  such  are  God's  words, 
creative  of  deeds,  of  deeds  wonderful  and  strange.     For  as 
He  said,  Let  the  earth  bring  forth  the  green  herb,  and  all  was 
at  once  a  paradise ;  so  also  now  He  said,  /  will  build  my 
Church,  and  it  is  done  with  all  ease ;    and  though  tyrants 
armed  against  it,  and  soldiers  brandished  their  weapons 
He  sowed  the  word  of  the  Gospel  ...  for  they  had,  fighting 
for  them  and  aiding,  the  irresistible  power  of  Him  who  said, 
Upon  this  rock  1  will  build  my  Church,  and  the  gates  of 
hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it.     Now  reckon  up  how  many 
princes  have  since  that  time  set  themselves  against  it ;  how 
many  have  raised  the  most  grievous  persecutions ;  consider  in 
what  state  the  faith  has  been  in  all  preceding  ages,  when  but 
newly  planted,  while  the  minds  of  men  were  more  tender 
and  yet  all  these  snares  and  assaults  were  scattered  more  easily 
than  a  spider's  web  ;  were  dissolved  more  swiftly  than  smoke  ; 
and  passed  away  more  rapidly  than  dust.  .  .  .  Seest  them  the 
force  of  the  prophecy,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail 
against  it  f     From  these  have  faith  as  regards  the  future,  and 
that  no  one  will  prevail  against  it.1     For  if,  when  it  consisted 
of  but  a  few  persons ;  when  it  seemed  to  be  a  mere  matter  of 
novelty;  when  the  doctrine  was  fresh  planted;  when  such 
were  the  conflicts,  and  so  dread  the  strifes  enkindled  on  every 
eide,  they  prevailed  not,  they  overcame  not,  much  more  now 
that  it  has  taken  possession  of  the  whole  world,  and  every 
place,  both  mountains  and  valleys,  &c.  .  .  .  Yea,  sooner  shall 

"Axe  TOVTGOV  TCidreve  Kepi  TWV  H£\\ovTa>vy  nod  on  ovdelS 


228  IXDEFECTIBILITY 

earth  and  heaven  pass  away,  than  any  word  or  prophecy  of 
His  be  proved  false  .  .  .  heaven  and  earth  .  .  .  and  with 
good  cause,  for  they  are  not  words,  but  God's  words,  effective 
of  deeds.  ...  As  I  have  before  said,  this  prophecy  concern 
ing  the  Church  has  manifested  the  greatness,  the  eminence, 
the  vastness  of  His  truth,  His  providence,  His  goodness,  His 
watchfulness.  Come,  now,  let  us  take  in  hand  also  another 
prophecy,  which  shines  brighter  than  the  sun,  and  is  clearer 
than  its  rays,  which  lies  under  the  observation  of  all  men,  and 
which  stretches  out  itself  unto  all  future  generations,  as  does 
the  preceding  prophecy  also.1  For  of  this  nature  are  the 
greater  part  of  His  prophecies.  They  are  not  limited  to  a 
brief  period,  nor  are  they  completed  in  (for)  one  generation, 
but  for  all  men,  as  well  those  who  are  now,  and  those  who 
shall  next  be,  for  those  after  them,  and  for  those  that  shall 
come  after  them  again,  and  so  for  all  the  successions  of  men 
even  to  the  consummation,  do  they  (the  prophecies)  furnish 
means  of  ascertaining  the  force  of  their  inherent  truth,  even 
as  does  the  preceding  prophecy.  Yea,  for  from  the  day  that 
it  was  spoken  even  to  the  consummation  of  the  world,  has  it 
remained  iirm  and  unshaken,  flourishing,  resplendent,  gaining 
power  day  by  day,  accumulating,  acquiring  fresh  force,  en 
abling  all  those  who  have  lived  from  that  day,  even  unto  those 
who  shall  be  until  the  coming  of  Christ,  to  reap  the  great 
est  advantages  from  it,  and  to  derive  thence  unspeakable  aid. 
For  our  predecessors  and  theirs,  and  theirs  again,  well  knew 
its  power,  as  they  beheld  the  contests  excited  against  it,  and 
the  dangers  and  troubles,  the  tumults,  the  waves,  the  storms  ; 
but  beholding  it  still  not  overwhelmed,  not  vanquished,  not 
overcome,  not  extinguished,  but  flourishing,  increasing,  raised 
to  a  mightier  elevation.  .  .  .  Seest  thou  how  what  He  built 
no  one  has  destroyed  ;  and  what  He  destroyed  (the  temple  of 
Jerusalem)  no  one  shall  build  up  ?  He  built  the  Church,  and 
no  one  could  destroy  it  ;  *  He  destroyed  the  temple,  and  no 


rat$  nerd  ravra  ysveal^  itapenTEivonevrjv,  codirep  xal 
rtporepav. 

avrrjv 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  229 

one  is  able  to  build  it  up  again." — T.  i.  Contr.  Jud.  et  Gent, 
quod  Christus  sit  Deus,  n.  12-16,  pp.  702-4,  706-8. 

The  same  argument  occurs  again,  in  brief  ,  in  the  same  vol. 
or.  v.  Contr.  Jud.  n.  2,  pp.  769,  770.  See  also  T.  iii.  Horn. 
ii.  In  Inscript.  Actor,  n.  1,  2,  pp.  73-76,  where  portions  of 
the  passage  already  extracted  are  repeated. 

"  There  is  nothing  equal  to  the  Church.  Tell  me  not  of 
walls  and  arms  :  for  walls  grow  old  with  time  ;  but  the  Church 
never  grows  old  ; 1  walls  barbarians  destroy,  but  the  Church  not 
even  demons  can  overcome.  And  that  my  words  are  not  empty 
boasting,  facts  testify.  How  many  have  waged  war  against 
the  Church,  and  they  that  warred  against  her  have  perished  ? 
but  she  has  been  raised  up  above  the  heavens.  Such  is  the 
mightiness  of  the  Church  :  warred  against,  she  conquers  ;  de 
vised  against,  she  overcomes  ;  assailed  with  insult,  she  is  made 
more  resplendent :  she  receives  wounds,  but  sinks  not  beneath 
the  ulcer  ;  agitated  by  the  waves,  she  is  not  submerged ;  tem 
pest-tossed,  but  she  suffers  no  shipwreck  ;  wrestles,  but  is  not 
overthrown  ;  she  fights  as  the  pugilist,  but  is  not  beaten.  Why 
then  has  He  permitted  the  contest  ?  That  He  may  exhibit 
a  more  glorious  trophy." — T.  iii.  De  Capto  Eutropio.  n.  I,  pp. 
461,  462. 

"  Withdraw  not  from  the  Church ;  for  nothing  is  stronger 
than  the  Church.2  Thy  hope,  the  Church  ;  thy  safety  (salva 
tion),  the  Church  ; 3  thy  refuge,  the  Church.  Than  heaven 
she  is  higher,  than  earth  more  extended.  Never  does  she 
grow  old,  but  her  age  is  ever  vigorous.  For  this  cause,  the 
Scripture  showing  her  firmness  and  ircmovableness,  calls  her 
a  mountain ;  her  incorruptibility,  calls  her  a  virgin ;  *  her 
magnificence,  calls  her  a  queen ;  that  connection  which  she 
has  with  God,  calls  her  a  daughter,  &c." — T.  iii.  De  Capto 
Eutropio.  n.  6,  p.  467. 

1  'EHKA.tf<5ta<3  ovdkv  i6ov  .  .  .  rj  kKK\.r^6ia  dk  ovdeTtore  yrjpq.. 

9  Ovdev  ydp  kKKhyGiaS  itixvporepov. 

3  'HtfGOTTjpta  6ov  rj  kKH\.r^6ia. 

*  To  agflopovj  avrrfv  naXei  itxpQevov. 


230  INDEFECTIBILITY 

"  Nothing,  O  man,  is  more  powerful  than  the  Church.  Give 
up  thy  conflict  with  her,  if  then  wouldst  not  have  thy  power 
destroyed ;  wage  not  war  against  heaven.  If  thou  war 
against  man,  thou  wilt  either  conquer,  or  be  conquered ;  but 
if  thou  war  against  the  Church,  it  is  impossible  for  thee  to  con 
quer  ; '  for  God  is  stronger  than  all  men.  Do  we  provoke  the 
Lord  to  jealousy  ?  are  we  stronger  than  He?  (1  Cor.  x.  22). 
God  hath  rooted  (her),  who  attempts  to  shake  (her)  ?  Thou 
knowest  not  His  power.  He  looketh  upon  the  earth,  and 
tnaketh  it  to  tremble  (Ps.  cii.) ;  He  commandeth,  and  the  things 
that  were  made  He  hath  continued.  If  the  troubled  city  He 
hath  established,  much  more  can  He  settle  the  Church.  The 
Church  is  stronger  than  heaven.2  Heaven  and  earth  shall 
pass  away,  but  my  word*  shall  not  pass  away.  What  words  ? 
Thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  Church, 
and  the  gates  of  hdl  shall  not  prevail  against  it :  if  thou  be 
lieve  not  the  word,  believe  the  facts.  How  many  tyrants 
would  fain  have  overcome  the  Church  ?  .  .  .  and  they  pre 
vailed  not.  Where  are  those  that  warred  against  her  ?  They 
are  unnamed  ;  they  are  buried  in  oblivion.  But  where  is  the 
Church  ?  She  shines  brighter  than  the  sun.  They  are 
quenched  ;  she  is  immortal.  If  when  the  Christians  were  few 
in  number,  they  were  not  conquered,  now  that  the  universe  is 
full  of  true  religion,  how  wilt  thou  be  able  to  conquer?  Hea 
ven  and  earth  shall  pass  away,  &c.,  and  very  justly.  For  the 
Church  is  dearer  to  God  than  heaven  is.  [He  continues  in  the 
same  strain,  and  winds  up  his  argument  as  follows  :]  Dost 
thou  not  hear  the  Lord  saying,  Where  two  or  three  are  gathered 
together  in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them  ;  and 
where  so  numerous  a  people  is  united  in  love,  is  He  not  pre 
sent  ?  I  have  His  pledge :  do  I  confide  in  my  own  strength  ? 
I  hold  His  written  word.  That  is  my  staff ;  that  my  security  ; 
that  my  waveless  harbor.  Though  the  world  be  shaken,  I 
hold  fast  His  written  word  :  I  read  it ;  those  words  are  my 
wall  and  safety.  What  are  those  words  ?  /  am  with  you  aU 

1  Ninrjtiai  6s  a^x^^oy'  2  'H  iHH\rj6ia  ovpavov 


OF  THE  CHURCH. 


the  days,  even  to  the  consummation  of  the  world.  Christ 
with  me,  and  whom  shall  I  fear  ?  Though  waves  may  be 
stirred  up  against  me,  though  the  ocean,  though  the  wrath  of 
kings,  to  me  all  these  are  less  than  a  spider's  web."  _  T.  iii. 
Sermo  Anteq.  iret  in  exilium,  n.  2,  pp.  495,  496. 

"In  the  last  days  the  mountain  of  the  Lord  shall  le  mani 
fest  (Is.  ii.)     See  the  accuracy  of  the  prophet,  who  not  only 
declares  the  fact,  but  also  signifies  the  time.     For  what  Paul 
says,  When  the  fulness  of  the  time  was  come,  and  elsewhere 
again,  In  the  dispensation  of  the  fulness  of  the  times,  this  is 
expressed  by  the  prophet  by,  In  the  last  days.     He  also  de 
signates  the  Church  a  mountain,  and  her  dogmas  impregnable. 
For  even   as  though  one  should  oppose  against  mountains, 
countless  troops  of  soldiers,  stretching  their  bows,  hurling  their 
spears,  and  bringing  up  machines,  they  will  not  be  able  to 
harm   them,  but  will  be  withdrawn  after  having   exhausted 
their  own  strength  ;  even  so  also  all  they  who  have  fought 
against  the  Church  have  not  shaken  her,  but,  having  worn  out 
their  own  strength,  have  been  put  to  shame,  scattered  when 
they  struck  at  her,  weakened  by  hurling  their  weapons  at  her, 
and   in   their  activity   vanquished   by    those    who   remained 
passive.     For  what  is  marvellous  in  the  Church  is  not  that  she 
conquered,  but  also  that  she  conquered  in  the  way  she  did. 
For  attacked,  pursued,  smitten  in  a  thousand  ways,  they  not 
only  did  not  lessen  her,  but  she  even  increased,  and  by  re 
maining  passive  only  did  she  utterly  disperse  those  engaged 
in   active  assault  upon  her.  .  .  .  Therefore  did   he  call  her 
a  mountain  .  .  .  the  firmness,  the  immovableness,  the  lofti 
ness,  the  invincibleness  of  the  Church  did  he  indicate  by  that 
appellation,  mountain.'     And  another  prophet  also  compares 
those  who  have  put  their  trust  in  God  to  a  mountain,  setting 
forth  that  they  cannot  be  overthrown.     Manifest  :  this  needs 
not  any  further  explanation  :  in  such  a  manner  does  the  very 
nature  of  facts  send  forth  a  voice  louder  than  any  trumpet, 

1  OVTGO  ual  TT?S  kuKXritiaS  TO  Ctreppdv,  TO  dnivriTov,  TO  vTbrjXov,  TO 


232  INDEFECTIBILITY 

making  known  the  splendor  of  the  Church.  For  neither  the 
sun,  nor  the  sun's  light,  is  so  plain,  as  what  regards  the  Church. 
For  the  house  of  the  Lord  is  on  the  tops  of  the  mountains" 
—T.  vi.  in  Is.  c.  ii.  n.  2,  pp.  24,  25. 

"  There,  man  is  the  pilot,  but  here  it  is  Christ.  And  there 
fore  is  the  vessel  tossed  by  the  tempest,  but  the  waves  over 
whelm  her  not.  For  she  might  indeed  have  sailed  in  the  calm, 
but  the  pilot  would  not  allow  it,  that  thou  mightest  see  both 
the  endurance  of  those  sailing  in  her,  and  the  wisdom  of  the 
pilot.  Let  Gentiles  and  Jews  give  ear  to  our  good  deeds,  and 
to  the  pre-eminence  of  the  Church.  By  how  many  has  the 
Church  been  warred  against,  yet  she  never  has  been  vanquished. 
How  many  tyrants,  generals,  kings,  Augustus,  Tiberius  .  .  . 
contended  strenuously  against  her  when  she  had  but  just  struck 
root,  and  yet  they  uprooted  her  not ;  yea  they  that  warred 
against  her  are  no  longer  named,  and  have  sunk  into  oblivion, 
whilst  she  that  was  warred  against  o'ertops  the  heavens.  For 
see  not,  I  pray,  merely  that  the  Church  is  on  the  earth,  but 
also  that  she  has  her  dwelling  in  heaven.  Whence  is  this 
manifest?  The  evidence  of  facts  demonstrates  it.  Eleven 
disciples  were  the  warred  against,  the  entire  world  opposed 
them  ;  but  the  opposed  conquered,  and  their  opponents  have 
been  removed ;  the  sheep  overcame  the  wolves.  Thou  hast 
seen  the  shepherd  sending  his  sheep  into  the  midst  of  wolves, 
so  that  they  might  not,  even  by  flight,  secure  their  safety. 
What  shepherd  did  this?  Even  Christ  did  it ;  that  He  might 
show  thee,  that  these  good  deeds  are  not  in  accordance  with 
the  natural  course  of  events,  but  above  nature  and  that  usual 
course.  For  the  Church  is  more  tirmly  rooted  than  heaven.1 
But,  perhaps,  the  Gentile  condemns  me  of  boasting.  But  let 
him  wait  for  the  proof  of  these  things,  and  learn  the  power 
of  truth  ;  how  it  is  an  easier  thing  for  the  sun  to  be  quenched, 
than  for  the  Church  to  be  made  invisible.2  Who,  he  asks, 
prophesies  this  ?  He  that  laid  her  foundations.  Heaven  and 

1  'H  yap  tKKXrjGia  ovpavov  /uaAAov 
9  rov 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  233 

earth  shall  pass  away,  but  my  'words  shall  not  pass  away. 
Tliis  He  not  merely  said,  but  fulfilled.  For,  wherefore  did  He 
found  her  more  firmly  than  heaven  ?  Because  the  Church  is 
more  precious  than  heaven.1  Why  is  heaven?  on  account  of 
the  Church,  not  the  Church  on  account  of  heaven.  Heaven  is 
on  account  of  man,  not  man  on  account  of  heaven." — T.  vi. 
In  Hind,  Vidi  Doin.  Horn.  iv.  n.  1,  2,j9j9.  141,  142. 

'*  Seest  thou  how  He  also  leads  Peter  to  high  thoughts  con 
cerning  Himself,  and  reveals  Himself,  and  points  out  that  He 
is  the  Son  of  God  by  these  two  promises  (viz.  St.  Matt.  xvi. 
18,  19).  For  those  things  which  are  peculiar  to  God  alone, — 
to  loose  sins,  and  to  make  the  Church  incapable  of  overthrow,2 
in  so  great  an  irruption  of  waves,  and  to  exhibit  a  fisherman 
more  firm  than  any  rock,  whilst  the  whole  world  is  battling, — 
these  things  He  promises  that  He  will  give  to  him  : 3  as  the 
Father,  speaking  to  Jeremias,  said  that  He  would  set  him  as  a 
pillar  of  brass,  and  as  a  wall,  but  him  indeed  to  one  nation, 
but  this  man  to  every  part  of  the  habitable  globe.4  I  would 
gladly  ask  those  who  wish  to  lessen  the  dignity  of  the  Son, 
which  gifts  were  the  greater,  those  which  the  Father  gave  to 
Peter,  or  those  which  the  Son  gave  him  ?  For  the  Father  did 
indeed  vouchsafe  to  Peter  the  revelation  of  the  Son,  but  the 
Son  sowed  both  His  own  and  the  Father's  (revelation)  in 
every  part  of  the  world,  and  to  a  mortal  man  He  entrusted  the 
authority  over  all  things  in  heaven,  when  He  gave  him  the 
keys ;  who  extended  the  Church  in  every  part  of  the  world, 
and  declared  it  to  be  stronger  than  heaven  : 5  for  heaven  and 
earth  shall  pass  away,  but  my  words  shall  not  pass  away"- 
T.  vii.  Horn.  54  in  Matt.  n.  2,  pp.  616,  617.  See  also  Ibid. 


1  Aid  rl  ydp  /*aX.Xov  ovpavov  /usi^ova  avrrjv  eQeiieMwtie;  njutoo- 
repa  ydp  ovpavov  77  EKHXrjGia. 

8  To  dnepiTpETtTov  rr?v  EHKXrjtiiav  noirftiai. 

3  Tavra  avr<£  kTtayye'XXf.Tai  dcotiEiv. 

4  Tlavraxov  rrj1-,  oiKov^Evrj^. 

6  Tov  ovpavov  I6xvpor£pov  dnEcprjVEv.  Another  similar  application 
of  this  text  occurs  in  the  same  volume  (Horn.  77,  n.  1,  p.  836):  "Manifest 
ing  that  the  Church  is  more  precious  than  heaven  and  earth." 


234  IXDEFECTIBILITY 

Horn.  82,  n.  3,j9.  887;  and  the  extract  under  "  Catholicity" 
from  T.  x.  Horn.  6,  in  1  Ep.  ad  Cor.  n.  3,  pp.  54,  55. 

"  But  wouldst  thou  fain  also  learn  the  force  both  of  these 
promises  and  predictions,  and  the  truth  of  those  that  have  pre 
ceded,  and  of  those  that  are  to  come  after  the  present  state  of 
things  ?  Behold  with  me  a  golden  chain  woven  cunningly 
from  the  beginning.  He  said  some  things  to  them  concerning 
the  churches,  and  concerning  future  things ;  and  He  that  said 
them  performed  miracles.  Wherefore  from  the  way  that 
what  He  said  has  fallen  out,  it  is  plain  that  both  the  miracles 
are  true,  as  also  the  future  things  promised.  But  that  what  I 
have  said  may  be  clearer,  I  will  make  it  manifest  from  actual 
facts.  He  raised  Lazarus  by  His  mere  bare  word,  and  showed 
him  alive  again  ;  He  said  that  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  pre 
vail  against  the  Church,  and  that  he  that  hath  left  father  or 
mother  shall  receive  a  hundred  fold  in  this  world,  and  shall 
inherit  life  everlasting.  Accordingly,  there  is  one  miracle, 
that  of  Lazarus,  whilst  there  are  prophecies,  one  indeed  pointed 
out  here,  but  the  other  in  the  world  to  come.  Now  see  how 
they  are  till  proved  by  one  another.  For  should  any  one  not 
believe  that  Lazarus  rose  again,  from  that  prophecy  spoken 
concerning  the  Church  let  him  believe  the  miracle ;  for  what 
was  spoken  so  many  years  before  then  came  to  pass,  and  re 
ceived  its  accomplishment,  for  the  gates  of  hell  have  not  pre 
vailed  against  the  Church.  He  therefore  that  spoke  the  truth 
in  that  prophecy,  it  is  plain  that  He  also  performed  the  mira 
cle  ;  whilst  He  who  both  performed  the  miracle,  and  brought  to 
an  accomplishment  what  He  had  said,  it  is  plain  that  He  also 
in  the  prophecy  which  relates  to  the  future,  speaks  the  truth. 
.  .  .  For  the  things  already  done  and  spoken  are  the  surest 
pledges  of  the  future  things  that  they  shall  come  to  pass.  All 
these  things,  therefore,  and  things  like  to  them  having  drawn 
together  from  the  gospels,  let  us  say  to  them,  and  stop  their 
mouths.  But  should  any  one  say,  '  How  then  is  it  that  error 
has  not  been  utterly  extinguished  ? '  Let  this  be  our  answer : 
4  Ye  are  the  causes,  ye  who  rebel  against  your  own  salva- 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  235 


tion.' " — T.  x.  Horn.  vii.  in  1  Ep.  ad  Cor.  n.  9,  p.  74. 
also  the  extract  from  T.  xi.  Horn.  v.  in  Ep.  ii.  ad  Thess.  un 
der  "  Authority  ;  "  also  T.  xii.  Zfom.  xxi.  m  Ep.  ad  Hebr.  n. 
3,  p.  283.1 

ST.  GAUDENTIUS,  L.  C. — "  We  behold  the  moon,  that  is,  the 
Church,  which  in  peace  increases,  in  persecution  wanes  (the 
fulness  of  its  circle  wanes,  not  the  brightness  of  its  light) ; 
we  see  it  now  shining  like  the  sun  over  the  whole  world." — 
D#  Lectione  Exod.  tr.  iii.  p.  948,  t.  v.  Max.  Bib.  PP. 

ST.  ASTEEIUS,  G.  C.2 — "  Through  Peter,  become  a  faithful 
and  genuine  hierophaiit  of  true  religion,  the  stability  of  the 
churches  is  preserved  incapable  of  overthrow  and  unswerving 
.  .  .  yea,  though,  from  the  time  that  the  Gospel  was  first 
preached,  assailed  by  many  trials,  and  by  ten  thousand  tyrants, 
and  though  the  devil  before  them  would  fain  have  overthrown 
it  to  the  earth,  and  remove  us  from  our  foundations.  As  the 
saving  word  says,  the  rivers  flowed  down  as  wintry  floods,  the 
vehement  winds  of  the  devilish  spirits  beat  upon  it,  and  the 
heavy  rains  of  those  who  persecuted  the  Christians  fell  against 
it,  and  yet  nothing  was  seen  to  be  more  powerful  than  the 

1  At  the  end  of  volume  sixth,  the  Benedictine  edition  gives  three  ser 
mons  which  are  declared,  though  not  St.  Chrysostom's,  to  have  been  written 
at  Constantinople  during  his  lifetime.      In  the  second  (p.  627)  is  the  follow 
ing:  "  The  Lord  is  clothed  with  strength,  and  hath  girded  Himself.     And 
what  follows?     For  He  hath  established  the  world,  which  shall  not  be 
moved.      For  as  sin  at  first  moved  the  world,  the  Saviour  came  and  planted 
the  cross,  and  established  the  world.     Thou  art  Peter,  and  on  this  rock,  &c., 
and  Paul,  But  the  sure  foundation  (of  God)  abideth,  having  this  seal  (2 
Tim.  ii.)     Two  words  therefore  did  the  Lord  utter,  Upon  this  rock  1  will 
build  my  church,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it.     He  used 
no  pomp  of  words.     He  did  not  say:  'I  firmly  establish  the  Church,  and 
not  kings,  not  tyrants,  not  rulers,  not  executioners,  not  the  wise,  not  the 
ignorant,  not  orators  shall  overcome  the  Church, — for  unconquered  and  in 
expugnable  is  the  kingdom   of  Christ  (ajuaxoS  nai  dnarayGOYidroS  r) 
fiatiiheia  xpitirov)' — but  by  a  word  He  manifested  His  power,  and  by  this 
simple  declaration  confirmed  His  promise,  upon  this  rock  1  will  build,  &c. 
Two  words,  not  mere  words,  but  the  words  of  a  God.     For  He  that  by  a 
word  established  the  heavens,  and  with  a  word  founded  the  earth,  He  also 
built  the  Church,  and  walled  it  round,  and  established  the  world,  which  shall 
not  be  moved." 

2  Bishop  of  Amasea  after  Eulalius.     He  died  about  the  year  400,  at  a 
very  advanced  age.     The  edition  used  is  that  by  Combefis. 


236  INDEFECTIBILITY 

bulwark  set  up  of  God,"  &c. ;  as  given  under  "  Primacy  of 
St.  Peter"  from  Homil.  in  Apost.  Petr.  et  Paul.  t.  i.  Combe- 
fis.  Nov.  Auctar* 

CENTURY    V. 

ST.  AUGUSTINE,  L.  C. — It  seems  almost  useless  to  cite  ex 
tracts  on  this  subject  from  this  father,  since  nearly  the  whole 
discussion,  in  the  "  Collatio  Carthagin."  is  made  to  turn  on 
this  fact,  that  no  human  vices,  &c.,  could  destroy  the  Church, 
or  the  Church's  universality,  seeing  that  Christ  had  promised 
that  such  should  not  be  destroyed :  "  nisi  forte  plus  contra 
ecclesiam  valuit  homo  peccans,  quam  pro  ecclesia  Deus  jurans." 

"  In  Thy  tabernacle  I  shall  dwell  for  ever  (Ps.  Ix.  5).  As, 
not  for  a  brief  period  was  the  Church  to  exist  on  this  earth, 
but  the  Church  will  be  here  till  the  end  of  the  world,  therefore 
does  he  say,  I  shall  dwell  in  Thy  tabernacle  for  ever.  Let  the 
enemy  rage  as  he  pleases,  let  him  assail  me,  lay  snares  against 
me,  multiply  scandals,  and  make  my  heart  sore,  1  will  dwell 
in  Thy  tabernacle  for  ever.  The  Church  shall  not  be  con 
quered  ;  shall  not  be  rooted  up ;  nor  give  way  before  any  trials 
whatever,  till  the  end  of  this  world  shall  come,1  and  out  of  this 
temporal  dwelling-place  we  be  received  into  that  eternal  one, 
unto  which  may  He  lead  us  who  has  become  our  hope  :  I  will 
dwell,  &c.  .  .  .  '  If  the  Church  were  here  for  but  a  few  days, 
the  snares  of  the  tempter  would  soon  have  an  end.'  Good  : 
them  wouldst  fain  have  the  temptations  last  but  a  few  days, 
but  how  could  she  gather  together  all  that  are  born,  were  she 
not  here  long,  if  her  existence  were  not  stretched  out  even 
unto  the  end."—  T.  iv.  Enarr.  in  Ps.  Ix.  n.  6,  col.  837. 

"  There  are  some  who  say :  '  She,  that  was  the  Church  of  all 
nations,  is  already  no  more ;  she  has  perished.'  This  they  say 
who  are  not  in  her.  The  impudent  assertion  !  Is  she  no  more, 
because  thou  art  not  in  her  ?  Look  to  it  lest  thou,  for  that 
cause,  be  no  more :  for  she  will  be,  though  thou  be  not.9 

1  Non  vincetur  ecclesia,  non  eradicabitur,  nee  cedet  quibuslibet  tenta- 
tionibus,  donee  veniat  hujus  saeculi  finis. 

5  O  impudentera  vocem  !  Ilia  non  est,  quia  tu  in  ilia  non  es  ?  Ilia  erit, 
etsi  tu  non  sis. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  237 

This  assertion,  abominable,  detestable,  full  of  presumption 
and  falsehood,  upheld  by  no  truth,  without  one  spark  of  wis 
dom,  devoid  of  all  wit,  vain,  rash,  hasty,  pernicious,  the  Spirit 
of  God  foresaw,  and  as  it  were  struck  at  such  when  it  an 
nounced  unity,  When  the  people  assemble  together  and  kings 
to  serve  the  Lord  (Ps.  ci.)  .  .  .  And  because  there  were  to 
be  certain  men  who  would  say  against  her,  <  She  wras,  but  is 
not,'  Declare  unto  me,  she  says,  the  fewness  of  my  days  (Tb.) 
What  is  it  that  I  know  not  what  individuals  who  withdraw 
from  me  mutter  against  me  ?  How  is  it  that  these  lost  men 
contend  that  I  have  perished  ?  For  undoubtedly  they  say, 
that  '  I  was,  but  am  not.'  Declare  unto  me  the  fewness  of  my 
days.  I  ask  Thee  not  of  those  eternal  days ;  they  are  with 
out  end,  where  I  shall  be ;  I  ask  not  about  them ;  I  ask  about 
my  days  during  time,  declare  unto  me  the  days  of  my  sojourn 
ing  here.  The  fewness  of  my  days,  not  the  eternity  of  my 
days,  declare  unto  me.  Declare  unto  me,  how  long  1  shall  be 
in  this  world,  on  account  of  those  who  say,  (  She  was,  and 
already  she  is  not : '  on  account  of  those  who  say, '  The  Scriptures 
have  been  fulfilled  ;  all  nations  have  believed,  but  the  Church 
of  all  nations  has  apostatized  and  perished."  What  means 
this,  Declare  unto  me  the  fewness  of  my  days?  And  He 
declared,  nor  wras  this  word  vain.  Who  declared  unto  me, 
but  the  way  itself.  How  did  He  declare  f  Behold !  I  am 
with  you  :  even  to  the  consummation  of  the  world  (Matt, 
xxviii.)  But  here,  they  rise  up,  and  say,  "  /  am  with  you. 
He  says,  even  to  the  consummation  of  the  world,  because  He 
foresaw  us,  because  the  party  of  Donatus  will  be  on  the  earth." 
Tell  me,  is  this  she  who  said,  Declare  unto  me  the  fewness  of 
my  days,  and  not  rather  she  who  said,  higher  up,  When  the 
people  assemble  together,  and  kings  to  serve  the  Lord.  [He 
pursues  the  same  argument  at  length,  and  concludes]  :  There 
fore,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world,  is  the  Church  in  all  na 
tions  ; '  and  this  is  the  fewness  of  her  days,  because  whatso 
ever  has  an  end  is  few  ;  that  so,  from  this  fewness,  she  may 

1  Ergo  usque  in  finem  sseculi  ecclesia  in  omnibus  gentibus. 


2  38  INDEFECTIBILITY 

pass  into  eternity.'' — T.  iv.  Enarr.  in  Ps.  ci.  n.  8,  9,  col. 
1576-1578. 

"  lie  has  founded  the  earth  upon  its  firmness,*  it  shall  not 
be  moved  for  ever  (Ps.  ciii.  5).  There  is  a  difficulty  here,  if 
the  words  be  taken  literally.  .  .  .  Let  us  turn  ourselves  to  seek 
for  something  that  is  here  set  down  figuratively.  He  has 
founded  the  earth,  I  understand  the  Church.  The  earth  is 
the  Lords,  and  the  fulness  thereof  (Ps.  xxiii.)  ;  I  understand, 
by  the  earth,  the  Church.  She  is  the  earth  that  thirsteth  ;  she 
it  is  that  speaketh  in  the  psalms — for  she  alone,  out  of  all, 
says,  My  soul  is  like  earth  without  water  unto  Thee  (Ps. 
cxlii.  6).  ...  By  the  earth,  therefore,  I  understand  the  Church. 
What  is  the  firmness  upon  which  she  is  founded,  but  her 
foundation  ?  .  .  .  What  is  that  foundation  ?  Other  foundation, 
he  says,  no  man  can  lay  but  that  which  is  laid,  which  is  Christ 
Jesus.  There  then  are  we  firmly  founded  :  with  reason,  be 
cause  that  we  are  there  founded,  we  shall  not  be  moved  for 
ever  •  for  nothing  is  stronger  than  this  foundation.  Thou 
wast  infirm,  but  a  firm  foundation  supports  thee.  On  thyself 
thou  couldst  not  be  firm  ;  thou  wilt  be  ever  firm,  if  thou  with 
draw  not  from  that  firm  foundation.  It  shall  not  be  moved 
for  ever.  She  is  the  predestined  pillar  and  ground  of 
truth."  a—  T.  iv.  Enarr.  in  Ps.  ciii.  n.  17,  col.  1628-29. 

"  There  follows  (in  the  Creed)  after  the  commemoration  of 
the  Trinity,  the  Holy  Church.  God  and  His  temple  have  been 
shown  you.  For  the  temple  of  God  is  holy,  says  the  Apostle, 
which  ye  are  (1  Cor.  iii.  7).  This  is  the  holy  Church ;  the 
one  Church,  the  true  Church,  the  Catholic  Church,  which 
fights  against  all  heresies.  She  may  fight,  but  cannot  be  de 
feated.  All  heresies  have  gone  out  from  her  like  useless 
branches  cut  off  from  the  vine  :  but  she  remains  in  her  own 
root,3  in  her  own  vine,  in  her  own  charity.  The  gates  of  hell 

1  Super  firmitatem  ejus. 

1  Ipsa  est  praedestinata  columns  et  firmamentum  veritatis. 
3  Pugnare  potest,   expugnari  tamen  non  potest.     Haereses  enim  de  ilia 
exierunt.     Ipsa  autem  manet  in  radice  sua. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  239 

shall  not  conquer  her." — T.  iv.  De  Symbolo,  ad  Catech.  n.  14 
(al.  6),  col.  927-28.' 

ST.  ISIDORE  OF  PELUSIUM,  G.  C. — "  The  Church  is  firmly 
built,  and  not  even  the  gates  of  hell  can  overthrow  it,  as  the 
God  that  made  it  promised."2 — Z.  i.  Ep.  eccxi.p.  83. 

"  To  the  deacon  Eutonius,  concerning  our  Saviour's  declara 
tion  relative  to  the  Church,  that  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not 
prevail,  &c.  Kot  that  no  one  should  war  against,  or  try  to 
destroy,  the  Church,  but  that  many  should  oppose  her,  but 
should  be  vanquished  by  her  power,  is  it  said,  and  the  gates  of 
hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it,  the  Church  to  wit.  And 
thus  has  it  befallen :  she  has  indeed  been  warred  against,  but 
has  not  been  vanquished,  yea,  has  shone  forth  more  resplendent 
than  they  that  tried  to  destroy  [quench]  her." — L.  iii.  Ep. 
vi.  pp.  25T-58. 

ST.  CYRIL  OF  ALEXANDRIA,  G.  C. — "  Then  the  Church  of  the 
Gentiles  shone  forth,  having  Christ  dwelling  within  it,  He  the 
end  of  the  law  and  of  the  prophets.  .  .  .  And  I  am  of  opinion, 
that  that  truer  tabernacle  was  foretold  to  us  by  the  prophet 
Isaias,  who  says  unto  each  one  that  is  called  in  faith  unto 
righteousness :  Thine  eyes  shall  see  Jerusalem,  rich  cities, 
tabernacles  that  shall  not  be  moved,  neither  shall  the  stakes  of 
that  tabernacle  be  stirred,  nor  shall  the  cords  thereof  be  broken 
for  ever  (xxxiii.  20).  For  God's  city  is  the  Church,  of  which 
blessed  David  has  made  mention,  saying,  Glorious  things  are 
said  of  thee,  O  city  of  God  (Ps.  Ixxxvi.)  For  she  is  rich, 
and  is  adorned  with  gifts  from  on  high,  even  from  heaven, 
and  has  a  solid  foundation  upon  what  is  firm,  both  a  founda 
tion  and  a  permanency,3  for,  according  to  the  Saviour's  word, 
The  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it." — T.  i.  I.  x. 
De  Ador.  in  Sp.  et  Ver.  p.  332.  See  also  T.  i.  Glaphyr.  in 
Genes.  1.  iv.  p.  130,  B. 

1  Aufert  portas  inferni.     Quid  est  portas  inferni  tollere,  nisi  mortis  im* 
perium  removere  ?    So  St.  Augustine,  t.  v.  Serm.  ccclxiv.  n.  4,  col.  2145-6. 

2  Avrrj  yap  sprfpsttfraz,  ual  ovre  vrto  ttv'X.cdv  aSov  Kvpisverai,  00$ 
so  dpddaS  avrrjv  SEO^  kTtrjyyEi\.aTo. 

3  ApprjKTov  e'xovda  Tijv  kv  fteftaica  <5rd(5iv,  i'dpvdtv  rk  xai  dia/novrjv. 


240  INDEFECTIBILITY 

"  It  is  befitting  that  they  wlio  sing  this  canticle  (Is.  xxvi.) 
should  say  of  the  Church  of  our  Saviour,  Lo  !  a  fortified  city 
and  our  safety  /  for  the  gates  of  hett  shaU  not  prevail  against 
it  (Matt,  xvi.),  according  to  the  declaration  of  our  Saviour,  for 
it  is  girded  round  as  with  a  double  wall,  both  by  the  aids '  of 
the  holy  angels,  and  by  that  which  is  from  above,  and  from 
God,  who  is  its  bulwark." — T.  2,  Comm.  in  Esai.  Lib.  iii.  t.  i. 
p.  358.  The  text  of  St.  Matthew  given  above  is  also  quoted 
in  the  same  sense. — Hid.  Lib.  iii.  p.  460. 

"  1  have  raised  him  up  a  king  with  justice,  and  all  Ms 
ways  are  right  (Is.  xlv.  13).  The  ways  of  Christ  are  right, 
and  lie  has  built  the  holy  city,  that  is,  the  Church,  wherein 
also  He  dwelleth.  For  He  abideth  in  the  saints,  and  we  have 
become  temples  of  the  living  God,  having  Christ  within  us 
through  the  participation  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  He,  therefore, 
founded  the  Church,  Himself  being  the  foundation,  in  which 
we  also,  as  rich  and  precious  stones,  are  built  into  a  holy 
temple,  as  a  dwelling-place  for  God  in  the  spirit ;  the  Church, 
having  Christ  for  a  foundation,  and  an  immovable  support,2 
is  perfectly  immovable  :  For  behold  1  lay  the  foundations  of 
Sion,  a  stone  elect,  a  corner  stone,  precious,  and  he  that 
believeth  on  Iliin  shall  not  be  confounded." — T.  ii.  Co/nm.  in 
Esai.  1.  iv.  or.  2,  p.  012. 

"  Be  renewed  unto  me,  ye  islands.  Israe  IshaU  be  saved 
by  the  Lord  with  an  everlasting  salvation  (Is.  xlv.)  As  the 
islands  of  the  sea  are  ever  buffeted  by  the  assaulting  waves, 
but  remain  immovable,  and  receive  the  vessels  that  are,  at 
times,  in  danger,  opening  to  them  a  harbor  undisturbed  by 
the  waves ;  so  the  churches  of  Christ  lie  in  the  very  midst  of 
the  tumult  and  the  wilderness  of  life,  and  are  assailed  by 
countless  trials ;  but  they  have  in  Christ  immovableness,  and 
they  receive  into  their  resting-place  those  who  fly  from  the 
vain  and  empty  restlessness  of  the  things  of  the  world."- 
Ibid.  p.  61 5  L.  v.  See  also  the  extract,  given  under  "  Au 
thority,"  from  Ibid.  L.  v.  pp.  768-769.  Also  T.  iii.  Comm.  in 

vnofiaftpav. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  241 

Joel.  p.  239,  C.  and  lUd.  p.  245,  B.C.  Also,  Ibid.  p.  245, 
where  his  usual  explanation  of  St.  Matt.  xvi.  18,  is  again  met 
with;  as  also  again,  Ibid.  Comm.  in  Soption.  p.  601,  B.C. ; 
also  p.  619,  E.  p.  796,  C. ;  and  "  T.  iv.  m  «Awwi.  I.  x.p.  916." 

ST.  PROSPER  OF  AQUITAINE,  L.  C. — "Declare  unto  me  the  few 
ness  of  my  days  (Ps.  ci.  24).  All  that  ends  and  passes  away 
is  brief ;  for  this  temporal  life  in  comparison  with  eternity  is 
brief  :  the  Church  for  this  cause  asks  to  have  her  days  declared 
unto  her,  that  she  may  know  that  she  is  to  endure  unto  the 
end  of  the  world,1  until  the  days  come  which  can  neither  be 
numbered  nor  end.  Call  me  not  away  in  the  midst  of  my 
days  (per.  25).  Let  not,  she  says,  my  days  be  shortened,  until 
the  consummation  of  the  world,  as  thou  hast  promised ;  until 
the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  come  in,  and  all  Israel  be  saved." 
—In  Ps.  ci.  col.  377. 

"  The  deep  like  a  garment  is  its  clothing  •  above  the  moun 
tains  shall  the  waters  stand  (Ps.  ciii.  6).  By  the  word  earth 
we  have  understood  the  Church  foretold,  which,  having  Christ 
for  its  foundation,  shall  not  be  moved  for  ever  and  ever.  Never 
theless,  it  is  signified  that  it  will  be  surrounded  by  the  deluge 
of  persecutions  (which  are  foreshown  under  the  name  of  the 
deep,  and  of  the  waters)  in  such  wise  as  to  be  covered  as  with 
a  garment  by  those  that  assail  it." — In  Ps.  ciii.  col.  385. 

"In  the  midst  of  many  I  will  praise  Him  (Ps.  cviii.  30). 
Christ  may  be  understood,  because  He  is  present  in  the  Church, 
even  to  the  end  of  the  world." — In  Ps.  cviii.  col.  414. 

"  For  the  Lord  hath  chosen  Sion,  He  hath  chosen  it  for  His 
dwelling  (Ps.  cxxxi.)  Sion  is  the  Church  itself,  and  it  is  the 
heavenly  Jerusalem,  to  the  peace  whereof  they  are  hastening 
who  are  yet  in  their  pilgrimage.  She  is  the  city  of  God,  which 
has  ever,  for  the  greater  part,  abided  with  its  author ; a  and 
awaits  the  part  which,  by  the  grace  of  God,  is  daily  recalled 
from  exile,  that  she  may  be  at  once  the  whole  edifice  of  Him 

1  Ut  noverit  se  usque  in  finem  saeculi  esse  mansuram. 
*  Ipsa  est  civitas  Dei,  quae  ex  meliori  sui  parte,  semper  cum  auctore  suo 
mansit. 


242  INDEFECTIBILITY 

who  dwells  within  her.  This  is  my  rest  for  ever  and  ever,, 
here  will  1  dwell,  because  I  have  chosen  it  (ver.  14).  It  is  ap 
parent  with  what  ineffable  love  God  loves  His  Church,  since 
that  rest  wherewith  He  makes  her  repose,  He  calls  His  own  ; 
whilst  what  is  the  principal  cause  of  this  so  great  a  gift  is  most 
fully  set  forth,  in  that  He  says,  Because  1  have  chosen  it,  accord 
ing  as  the  Lord  says  in  the  gospel,  You  have  not  chosen  me, 
but  1  have  chosen  you  (St.  John  xv.  16)."  —  In  Ps.  cxxxi. 
col.  483. 

THKOPORET,  G.  C.  —  "  He  also  denotes,  by  these  men,  those 
who  have  risen  up  at  divers  times  against  the  Church,  and  were 
not  able  to  overcome  it,  in  accordance  with  that  prohibition  of 
our  God  and  Saviour;1  For  the  gates  of  hett,  lie  says,  shall  not 
prevail  against  it"  —  T.  1,  Jnterpr.  in  Is.  v.  p.  637.  See  also 
the  extract  given  under  the  head  "Authority"  from  T.  1,  in 
Ps.  xlvii.^.  007-13. 

"  Why  suspect,  ye  curdled  mountains?  the  mountain  on 
which  God  was  well  phased  to  dwell  (Ps.  Ixvii.),  Aquila  trans 
lates  thus  :  Why  contend,  ye  lofty  mountains,  against  the  moun 
tain  whereon  the  Lord  desired  to  sit  f  The  prophetic  word  is 
directed  against  the  Jews,  and  the  unlawful  conventicles  of 
heretics  who  call  themselves  churches  ;  and  it  says  :  '  Why  do 
you  lift  up  yourselves  to  contend  and  equal  yourselves  with 
the  mountain  which  God  has  made  His  dwelling-place  ;  For 
there  the  Lord  shall  dwell  unto  the  end?  For  not  as  He  dwelt 
with  you,  O  Jews,  for  a  certain  fixed  time,  so  will  He  abide 
herein  ;  but  He  will  have  in  this  an  everlasting  habitation.1 
For  this  is  declared  by  that  word,  Unto  the  end.  The  chariot 
of  God,  tens  of  thousands  of  thousands  of  them  that  rejoice. 
For  not  as  He  had  amongst  you,  O  Jews,  a  few  holy  men,  so 
will  He  have  now  also,  for  tens  of  thousands  of  such  are  there 
who  are  worthy  to  have  God  ascend  upon  them  ;  and  the  new 
inheritance  has  countless  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of 
them  that  rejoice,  and  that  bring  forth  unto  God  fruits  of  piety, 


1  Kara  rrjv  avrov  rov  &EOV  nai  ^GOTrjpoS  rjnoov  dnay6p£v6iv. 
9  */4AA7  aiooviov  kv  TOVTGO  tf^tfet  rrjv 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  243 

living  uprightly,  and  found  worthy  of  crowns,  and  hastening 
to  the  reward  of  a  heavenly  call." — T.  I,  Interpret,  in  Ps. 
Ixvii.^.  1064. 

ST.  PETER  CHKYSOLOGUS,  L.  C. — "  I  believe — the  holy  Ca 
tholic  Church ;  that  tliou  mayest  acknowledge  a  Church,  the 
spouse  of  Christ,  which  will  abide  in  the  uninterrupted  society 
of  Christ." — Serm.  lxi._p.  95. 

YINCENTIUS  OF  LERINS,  L.  C. — The  context  of  the  following 
extract  has  been  given  under  "  Authority"  "  Avoid  prof ane 
novelties  of  words,  he  says :  of  words,  that  is,  novelties  of 
dogmas,  of  things,  of  opinions,  which  are  contrary  to  old  usage, 
and  antiquity.  Which  (novelties)  if  they  be  received,  it  must 
needs  be  that  the  faith,  either  all,  or  assuredly  a  great  part  of 
it,  of  our  blessed  fathers,  must  be  overthrown  (violated) ;  it 
must  needs  be  that  all  the  faithful  of  all  ages,  all  the  saints,  all 
the  chaste,  the  continent,  the  virgins,  all  the  clergy,  the  Levites 
and  priests,  so  many  thousands  of  confessors,  so  great  armies 
of  martyrs,  so  many  celebrated  and  populous  cities  and  peo 
ples,  so  many  islands,  provinces,  kings,  tribes,  kingdoms,  na 
tions,  and  in  fine,  almost  now  the  whole  world  incorporated  by 
the  Catholic  faith  with  Christ  their  head,  must  be  proclaimed 
to  have  been,  during  the  lapse  of  so  many  ages,  ignorant,  to 
have  erred,  to  have  blasphemed,  to  have  not  known  what  it 
should  believe."  ' 

"  Avoid,  says  he,  profane  novelties  of  words  (voices],  to  re 
ceive  and  to  follow  which,  was  never  the  custom  of  Catholics, 
but  was  always  that  of  heretics.  And  in  fact  what  heresy  hath 
ever  burst  forth,  save  under  a  certain  name,  in  a  certain  place, 
at  a  certain  time  ?  Who  ever  instituted  heresies,  save  he  who 
first  divided  himself  from  the  consent  of  the  universality  and 
antiquity  of  the  Catholic  Church  ?  Which  that  it  is  so,  exam 
ples  prove  clearer  than  the  sun.  For  who  ever  before  that 
profane  Pelagius  presumed  so  much  on  the  force  of  free  will, 
that  lie  thought  not  the  grace  of  God  necessary  to  aid  it  in 

1  Tanto  saeculorum  tractu  ignorasse,  errasse,  blasphemasse,  nescisse  quid 
crederet  pronuncietur. 


244  INDEFECTIBILITY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

good  things  throughout  every  act.  [Having  cited  Celestiusv 
Arius,  Sabellius,  Novatian,  Simon  Magus,  as  each  the  well- 
known  author  of  some  special  novelty,  he  adds :]  Such  exam 
ples  are  innumerable,  which  for  the  sake  of  brevity  we  pass 
over :  by  all  which  nevertheless  it  is  shown  evidently  and 
plainly  enough,  that  this  is  as  it  were  a  custom  and  law  in  al 
most  all  heresies,  that  they  ever  delight  in  profane  novelties, 
loath  the  decrees  of  antiquity,  and  make  shipwreck  of  the  faith 
by  oppositions  of  knowledge  falsely  so  called.1  Whilst  con 
trariwise,  that  this  is  usually  proper  to  Catholics,  to  keep  the 
things  left  and  committed  to  their  charge  by  the  holy  fathers, 
to  condemn  profane  novelties,  and  as  the  Apostle  said,  and 
again  forewarned,  If  any  man  shall  preach  besides  that  which 
has  been  received,  to  anathematize  (him)  (Gal  i.)."  For  con 
tinuation,  see  "  Private  Judgment."— Adv. Hares,  n.  xxiv. 

ST.  LEO  L,  POPE,  L.  C.— u  By  no  kind  of  cruelty  can  the  re 
ligion  founded  by  the  mystery  (sacrament)  of  the  cross  be 
destroyed.  By  persecution  the  Church  is  not  lessened  but  in 
creased,  and  the  field  of  the  Lord  is  always  clothed  with  a 
richer  harvest,  while  the  grains  which  fall  singly  grow  up 
multiplied."—  T.  1,  Serm.  Ixxxii.  c.  5,  (In  Nat.  App.  Pet.  et 
Pauli}pp.  325-6. 

"  Stand  therefore  in  the  spirit  of  Catholic  truth.  ...  Do 
not  think  that  the  divine  protection  is,  or  will  be,  wanting  to 
His  holy  Church.  For  the  purity  of  the  faith  shines  forth 
when  the  filth  of  error  is  separated  from  it."— Ib.  Ep.  1.  (al. 
xlv.)  ad  Constantinop.  c.  Z,p.  935.  See  the  extract  from  Ep. 
clvi.  ad  Leon.  Aug.  c.  2,  p.  1322,  given  under  "  Authority." 
Numerous  extracts,  on  this  subject,  will  be  found  under  "  The 
Primacies"  on  occasion  of  his  expounding  St.  Matt.  xvi. 

ARNOBIUS  JUNIOR,  L.  C.— "  But  Thou  hast  upheld  me  by  rea 
son  of  mine  innocence,  and  hast  established  me  in  Thy  sight 
for  ever  (Ps.  xiii.)  This  signifies  the  Church  in  the  Apostles 

1  Hoc  apud  omnes  fere  haereses  quasi  solenne  est  ac  legitiraum,  ut  semper 
prophanis  novitatibus  gaudeant,  antiquitatis  scita  fastidiant,  et  per  oppos 
tiones  falsi  nominis  scientia?  a  fide  naufragent. 


APOSTOLICITY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  245 

and  prophets ;  for  not  philosophers  and  rhetoricians,  but  un 
learned  men  and  fishermen,  upheld  of  God,  founded  a  Church 
which  He  has  established  in  His  sight  for  ever."—Comtn.  in 
Ps.  xl.p.  259,  t.  viii.  Bill.  Max.  SS.  PP.  See  also  the  ex 
tract,  given  under  "  Authority,"  from  Comm.  in  Ps.  ciii. 

ZAOOILBUS,  L.  C.— "  They  cease  not  to  assail  the  Church,  and 
Christ.  But  as  nothing  is  ever  stronger  than  truth,  the  mighty 
ponderous  mass  remains  immovable  in  the  midst  of  the  as 
saulting  waves,  which  break  tormented  with  their  mutual 
violence ;  and  the  purpose  of  these  apostates  merely  attains  to 
this,  that,  differing  as  they  do  from  each  other,  while  each 
desires  to  destroy  our  faith,  they  as  a  whole  establish  it."— Z. 
ii.  Consult.  Zacch.  et  Apollin.  c.  xi.  Galland.  t.  ix.  p.  231. 
The  context  will  be  found  under  "  Unity" 

FELIX  III.,  POPE,  L.  C.— "  Whereas  our  Lord  has  said  that 
the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  His  Church 
this  (heretic)  has  dared  to  say,  that  we  ought  not  to  denominate 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  and  that  in  accordance  with  the  divine 
institution  of  the  Saviour,  and  the  tradition  of  the  divine 
Scriptures,  and  the  exposition  of  the  Fathers."— T.  iv.  Labb. 
Condi.  Ep.  Zenoni,  col.  1070-1. 


SUCCESSION  FROM  THE  APOSTLES. 


Matt,  xxviii.  18-20.—  "  And  Jesus  coming  spoke  to  them, 
saying,  all  power  is  given  to  me,"  &c.,  as  already  quoted  at  p.  200. 

John  xx.  21-23.—  "As  the  Father  hath  sent  me,  I  also  send 
you,"  &c. 

Actsu.  42.—  "  And  they  were  persevering  in  the  doctrine  of 
the  Apostles,  and  in  the  communication  of  the  breaking  of 
bread,1  and  in  prayers." 


1  Our  present  Greek  copies  read  ry  didaxy  TGOV  ctTtodro^oor  ual  ry 
KoivGovia  nod  T$  Hkdtiei  TOV  aprov,  (in  the  doctrine  of  the  Apostles,  and 
in  the  fellowship,  and  in  the  breaking  of  the  bread). 


246  APOSTOLICITY 

Romans  x.  15.— "How  shall  they  preach  unless  they  be  sent  ?" 
Ephes.  iv.    11-14.— "  And   He   gave  some  Apostles,"   &c., 

quoted  at  p.  11. 

Hebrews  v.  4.—"  Neither  doth  any  man  take  the  honor  to 
himself  but  he  that  is  called  by  God  as  Aaron  was." 

1  Tim.  ii.  2. "  The  things  which  thou  hast  heard  of  me  by 

many  witnesses,  the  same  commend  to  faithful  men,  who  shall 
be  fit  to  teach  others  also." 

See  also  Acts  ii.  21-20  ;  xv.  2-4,  6,  22-29,  41 ;  xx.  28.  Titus 
i.  5.  Hebrews  xiii.  7,  17. 


THE    FATHERS. 

CENTURY    I. 

ST.  CLEMENT  OF  EOME,  L.  C.—  42.    "The  Apostles  have 
preached  to  us  from  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  :  Jesus  Christ  from 
God.     Christ,  therefore,  was  sent  by  God,  and  the  Apostles  by 
Christ  ____  Preaching  through  countries  and  cities,  they  ap 
pointed  their  first-fruits—having  proved  them  by  the  Spirit- 
bishops  and  deacons  of  those  who  were  about  to  believe.1 
was  this  a  new  thing  :  seeing  that,  long  before,  it  had  been 
written  concerning  bishops  and  deacons  ;   for  thus  saith  the 
Scripture  in  a  certain  place,  I  will  appoint  their  Ushops  in 
righteousness,  and  their  deacons  in  faith  (Is.  Ix.  17). 

43.  "  And  what  wonder  if  they,  to  whom,  in  Christ,  such  a 
work  was  committed  by  God,  appointed  such  as  we  have  men 
tioned,  when  even  that  blessed  and  faithful  servant  in  all  His 
house,  Moses,  notified,  in  the  sacred  books,  all  things  that  had 
been  commanded  him.  .  .  . 

44.  «  So  also  our  Apostles  knew,  through  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  that  contention  would  arise  on  account  of  the  epis 
copacy.2     And  for  this  cause,  having  a  perfect  foreknowledge, 

rds  dnapxds  avruv,  8oxind6avreS  r<? 


OT  .    .    . 

TOV  ovovarot  rf?s  siei<Sxojerff:  lit.   regarding  the  name  o 
episcopacy,  the  dignity,  that  is,  of  the  episcopacy,  or  the  episcopate  itself. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  247 

they  appointed  the  aforesaid  (bishops  and  deacons),  and  then 
gave  direction  l  in  what  manner,  when  they  should  die,  other 
approved  men  should  succeed  them  in  their  ministry  (liturgy). 
Wherefore,  we  account  that  they  who  have  been  appointed  by 
them,  or  afterwards  by  other  eminent  men  —  the  whole  Church 
consenting  —  and  who  have  ministered  blamelessly  to  the  nock 
of  Christ  with  humility,  peacefully,  and  not  illiberally  ;  and 
who  have  also,  for  a  long  time,  been  approved  of  by  all,  that 
such  men  are  not  to  be,  without  injustice,  thrown  out  of  the 
ministry.  For  it  would  be  no  small  sin  in  us,  if  we  should 
cast  off  from  the  episcopacy  those  who  offer  up  the  gifts  a 
blamelessly  and  holily."  3  —  Ep.  i.  ad  Corinth,  n.  42-M. 

CENTUKY    II. 

ST.  IGNATIUS,  G.  C.  —  "  I  exhort  you  that  ye  study  to  do  all 
things  in  a  divine  unanimity,  the  bishop  holding  presidency,  in 
the  place  of  God  ;  and  the  presbyters  in  the  place  of  the  council 
of  the  Apostles  ;  and  the  deacons  most  dear  to  me,  entrusted 
with  the  service  of  Jesus  Christ.  ...  Be  ye  made  one  with  the 
bishop  and  with  those  who  preside,  for  a  pattern  and  lesson  of 
incorruption."  —  Ep.  ad  Magnesianos,  n.  6.  See  many  similar 
passages  under  "  Authority" 

ST.  IREJSLEUS,  G.  C.  —  "  Therefore,  in  every  Church  there  is, 
for  all  those  who  would  fain  see  the  truth,  at  hand  to  look 
unto,  the  tradition  of  the  Apostles  made  manifest  throughout 


1  Kat  HETOI^V  £7tivo/urfr  d  sd  (anatiiv  .     Hammond  (Power  of  the  Keys, 
c.  iii.  §  4,  p.  20)  translates:  "they  set  down  a  list  or  continuation  of  suc 
cessors  ;"   Cotelerius  :    "futurse  successionis  regulam  ;"  Le  Clerc:  "sub- 
rogationem,  i.  e.,  nomina  subrogandorum,  su^cessionem  in  mortui  locum." 
For  many  other  interpretations  see  Cotelerius,  Gallandius,  in  loco. 

2  'Otii'oot  TtpotiEveyKorTEC,  rd  Swpa.     So  St.  Ignatius  (Ep.  ad  Smyrn. 
n.  7)  :  rrjv  daopeav  rov  Qeov,  and  Apostol.  Constit.  viii.  12.     See  Cotele 
rius  in  loco. 

3  Of  this  epistle  St.    Irenasus  says:    "A  no  slight  dissension  having 
arisen  amongst  the  brethren  at  Corinth,  the  Church  in  Rome  sent  a  most 
powerful  epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  moving  them  to  peace,  and  renovating 
their  faith,  which  they  had  recently  received  from  the  Apostles."  —  Adv. 
Hmres.  I.  iii.  c.  iii.    And  Eusebius  says  :  "  And  in  that  epistle  of  Clement's, 
which  is  acknowledged  by  all,  which  he  composed  in  the  person  of  the 
church  of  the  Romans,  to  the  church  of  the  Corinthians."  —  H.  E.  iii.  38. 


248  APOSTOLICITY 

the  whole  world ;  and  we  have  it  in  our  power  to  enumerate 
those  who  were,  by  the  Apostles,  instituted  bishops  in  the 
Churches,  and  the  successors  of  those  bishops  down  to  our 
selves  ;  none  of  whom  either  taught '  or  knew  anything  like 
unto  the  wild  opinions  of  these  men.  For  if  the  Apostles  had 
known  any  hidden  mysteries,  which  they  apart  and  privately 
taught  the  perfect  only,  they  would  have  delivered  them,  be 
fore  all  others,  to  those  to  whom  they  even  entrusted  the  very 
churches.  For  they  sought  that  they  whom  they  left  as  suc 
cessors,  delivering  unto  them  their  own  post  of  government,* 
should  be  especially  perfect  and  blameless  in  all  things ;  whose 
upright  discharge  of  their  office  would  be  of  great  profit,  as 
their  fall  would  be  a  great  calamity. 

2.  "  But  as  it  would  be  a  very  long  task  to  enumerate,  in 
such  a  volume  as  this,  the  successions  of  all  the  churches ; 
pointing  out  that  tradition  which  the  greatest  and  most  ancient, 
and  universally  known,  Church  of  Rome — founded  and  con 
stituted  by  the  two  most  glorious  Apostles  Peter  and  Paul- 
derives  from  the  Apostles,  and  that  faith  announced  to  all 
men,  which  through  the  succession  of  (her)  bishops  has  come 
down  to  us,  we  confound  all  those  who  in  any  way,  whether 
through  self-complacency  or  vain-glory,  or  blindness  and  per 
verse   opinion,  assemble  otherwise  than  as  behooveth  them. 
For  to  this  Church,  on  account  of  more  potent  principality,  it 
is  necessary  that  every  church,  that  is,  those  who  are  on  every 
side  faithful,  resort,  in  which  (Church)  ever,  by  those  who  are 
on  every  side,  has  been  preserved  that  tradition  which  is  from 
Apostles. 

3.  "  The  blessed  Apostles,  then,  having  founded  and  built 
up  that  Church,  committed  the  sacred  office  of  the  episcopacy s 

1  Traditionem  itaque  apostolorum  in  toto  mundo  manifestatara,  in  orani 
ecclesia  adest  respicere  omnibus  qui  vera  velint  videre  :  et  haberaus  annu- 
merare  eos  qui  ab  apostolis  instituti  sunt  episcopi  in  ecclesiis,  et  successores 
eorum  usque  ad  nos,  qui  nihil  tale  docuerunt. 

2  Quos  et   successores  relinquebant,    suura    ipsorum   locum    magisterii 
tradentes  (delivering  unto  them  their  own  office  as  teachers). 

3  Trjv  k-jtiGuoTtri's  Xeirovpyiav 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  249 

to  Linus,  of  whom  Paul  makes  mention  in  his  epistles  to  Ti 

mothy.     To  him  succeeded  Anacletus,  and  after  him,  the  third 

from  the  Apostles  who  obtained  that  episcopacy,  was  Clement, 

who  had  seen  and  conferred  with  the  blessed  Apostles,  and 

who  still  had  before  his  eyes  the  familiar  preaching  and  tradi 

tion  of  the  Apostles  ;  and  not  he  only,  for  many  were  then 

still  alive  who  had  been  instructed  by  the  Apostles.  .  .  .  But 

to  this  Clement  succeeded  Evaristus,  and  to  Evaristus,  Alex 

ander.     Next  to  him—  thus  the  sixth  from  the  Apostles—  Six- 

tus  was  appointed,  and  after  him  Telesphorus,  who  suffered  a 

glorious  martyrdom  ;  next  Hyginus  ;  then  Pius  ;  after  whom 

was  Anicetus.     To  Anicetus  succeeded  Soter;  and  to  him— 

the  twelfth  in  succession  from  the  Apostles—  succeeded  Eleu- 

therius,  who  now  holds  the  episcopate.     By  this  order  and  by 

this  succession,  both  that  tradition  which  is  in  the  Church 

from  the  Apostles,  and  the  preaching  of  the  truth,  have  come 

down  to  us.1     And  this  is  a  most  complete  demonstration 

that  the  vivifying  faith  is  one  and  the  same,  which,  from  the 

Apostles  even  until  now,  has  been  preserved  in  the  Church, 

and  transmitted  in  truthfulness. 

4.  "  So  also  Polycarp,  who  not  only  had  been  instructed  by 
Apostles,  and  had  conversed  with  many  who  had  seen  the 
Lord,  but  was  also  appointed,  by  Apostles,  bishop  of  Smyr 
na,  in  Asia,  Him  we  saw  in  our  early  youth.  .  .  .  The 
things  which  he  had  learned  from  the  Apostles,  those  he  uni 
formly  taught,  which  also  he  delivered  to  that  Church,2  which 
also  alone  are  true.  To  these  all  the  churches  throughout 
Asia,  and  they  who  to  this  day  have  succeeded  to  Polycarp, 
bear  testimony,  being  a  witness  of  truth  much  more  credi 
ble  and  more  faithful  than  Yalentinus  and  Marcion,  and  the 

avr^  rd&i,   ual    ry   avry    didaXy  (diadoxy)  yre  and    rwv 
kv  ry  kuK^ia  TtapddotitS,  nal  TO  ry$  dtyOeiaS  nrpvy^a 


*~A  xai  rj  kKH\.7j6ia  napadidoo6iv  (which  also  the  Church  transmits). 
So  the  Greek.     But  as  the  Vet.  Interpres,  as  also  Rufinus,  give  the  passage, 
'  Et  haec  ecclesiae  tradebat,"  and  therefore  read,  &  nal  ry  eHxtydia  napa- 
6idco6ir,  I  have  followed  that  reading  in  the  translation. 


250  APOSTOLICITY 

rest  of  the  perverse  thinkers.  And  this  Polycarp  having 
come  to  Home,  under  Anicetus,  converted  many  from  amongst 
the  aforesaid  heretics,  unto  the  Church  of  God ;  proclaiming 
that  lie  had  received  from  the  Apostles  that  one  and  only 
truth,  which  he  delivered  to  the  Church.  And  there  are  those 
who  heard  him  say,  that  John,  he  who  was  the  Lord's  disciple, 
having  gone  forth  to  bathe  in  Ephesus,  and  seeing  Cerinthus 
within,  hurried  forth  from  the  bath  without  bathing,  and  ex 
claiming,  i  Let  us  fly,  for  fear  lest  the  bath  fall,  as  Cerintlms, 
the  enemy  of  the  truth,  is  within.'  And  this  very  Polycarp, 
when  Marcion  once  met  him,  and  said,  '  Dost  thou  know  us  I ' 
replied,  '  I  know  thee  as  the  first-born  of  Satan.'  .  .  .  And 
there  is  a  very  powerful  epistle  of  Polycarp's,  written  to  the 
Philippians,  out  of  which  they  who  choose,  and  have  heed  of 
their  salvation,  can  learn  both  the  character  of  his  faith,  and 
the  preaching  of  the  truth.  .  .  .  But  the  church  also  in 
Ephesus,  founded  indeed  by  Paul,  but  with  which  John  re 
mained  until  the  days  of  Trajan,  is  a  veracious  witness  of  the 
tradition  of  Apostles.1 

"  C.  iv.  n.  1.  Wherefore,  since  there  are  such  proofs  to 
show,  we  ought  not  still  to  seek  amongst  others  for  truth 
which  it  is  easy  to  receive  from  the  Church ;  seeing  that  the 
Apostles  have  brought  together  most  fully  into  it,  as  into  a 
rich  repository,  all  whatever  is  of  truth." — Adv.  Ho&res.  I.  iii. 
c.  3,  n.  \A,pp.  175-7.  For  the  continuation  of  the  above  ex 
tract,  see  the  first  passage  given  from  St.  Irenseus  under  "  Au 
thority."  See  also,  under  «  Authority"  I  iv.  c.  26,  n.  2 ;  and 
1.  iv.  c.  33,  n.  8:  given  under  "  Unity" 

CLEMENT  OF  ALEXANDRIA,  G.  C.— "  For,  in  truth,  amongst 
men  so  great— I  mean  as  regards  ecclesiastical  knowledge— 
what  was  left  to  be  said  by  Marcion  for  example,  or  Prodicus, 
or  such  like,  who  walked  not  in  the  right  road  I  For,  assured 
ly,  they  surpassed  not  in  wisdom  their  predecessors,  so  as  to 
find  out  something  in  addition  to  the  things  spoken  according 
to  the  truth  by  those  men  ;  but  it  would  have  been  well  for 
1  Testis  est  verus  apostolorum  traditionis. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  251 

them,  if  they  had  been  able  to  learn  the  things  which  had 
been  previously  handed  down.1  In  sooth,  our  Gnostic  alone 
having  grown  old  in  the  Scriptures  themselves,  preserving 
the  apostolical  and  ecclesiastical  right  division  (or,  correct 
treatment)  of  doctrines,2  lives  most  correctly  in  accordance 
with  the  Gospel,  being  referred  (directed)  by  the  Lord,  to  find 
the  demonstrations  as  he  may  seek  for  (them),  both  from  the 
law  and  the  prophets.  For  I  account  that  the  life  of  the 
Gnostic  is  nothing  else  but  actions  and  words  following  the 
tradition  of  the  Lord.3  But  that  knowledge  is  not  every 
one's  .  .  .  never  ought  we  to  adulterate  the  truth,  as  they  do 
who  side  with  the  heresies,  nor  to  act  fraudulently  towards 
the  canon  (rule)  of  the  Church,  gratifying  our  private  desires  * 
and  fondness  for  glory,  to  the  deceiving  of  our  neighbors, 
whom  it  behooveth  us  in  every  way  to  teach  to  love  and  cleave 
to  the  truth.  .  .  .  They,  therefore,  who  meddle  with  impious 
words,  and  are  the  first  to  instil  them  into  others,  and  do  not 
use  well,  but  deceitfully,  the  divine  words,  they  neither  them 
selves  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  nor  suffer  those 
whom  they  have  deceived  to  attain  to  the  truth.  But  neither 
have  they  themselves  the  key  to  the  entrance,  but  a  kind  of  false 
(key),  and,  according  to  a  usual  expression,  an  avtiuk^ida  ;  5 
and  not  by  having  loosed  the  veil  by  means  of  this  —  as  we 
enter  by  means  of  the  tradition  of  the  Lord  —  but  by  having 
cut  open  the  door,  and  broken  down  the  wall,  of  the  Church 
clandestinely,  transgressing  the  truth,6  they  become  the  hiero- 
phants  of  the  souls  of  the  impious.  For  that  they  made  their 
human  assemblages  later  than  the  Catholic  Church,  there 
needs  not  many  words  to  show.  For  the  doctrine  which  was 

1  Ei  rd  TtpoTtapadedo/nEva  /uaQsir  r}dvvrfftr}(5a.v. 

2  Trjv   aTtotiToXinrjv   ual   eHHA.i?diadrix??r  GGO^GOV  opQorojuiav  TGOV 


rov  Hvpiov  dnoXovBoi  TCapadodst. 
Ovde  IJL-TIV  H\£TtTEtv  Tov  Kavovct  Trf-,  £KKA.i?dia$t  TcciS  idiai<3 


6  'AvriKhsiSa,  clavem  aversam.     Potter. 

6  dtopv^avT£<s  hdQpa  rd  reixior  Trj<i  £KK\rj<5ia<3  v 


APOSTOLICITY 


taught  at  the  Lord's  advent,  having  begun  under  Augustus, 

was  completed  in  the  middle  of  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  and 

the  teaching  of  the  Apostles,  even  to  the  sacred  ministry  of 

Paul,  ended  under  Nero.     But  at  a  later  period,  about  the 

time  of  the  Emperor  Adrian,  they  who  excogitated  the  here 

sies  arose,  and  continued  until  the  time  of   Antoninus  the 

Elder;    as    Basilides,   although    he   assigns   Glaucias   as   his 

teacher,  who,  as  they  boast,  was  Peters  interpreter.1     Just 

as  they  say  that  Valentinus  had  been  a  hearer  of  Theudas, 

who  had  been  familiarly  acquainted  with    Paul.     Marcion, 

who  was    contemporary  with    the  above,  was   an   old   man 

amongst  youths  :  after  whom  Simon,  who  for  a  short  time 

heard  Peter  preach.     These  things  being  so,  it  is  manifest 

that,  out  of  the  primordial  and  most  true  Church,  these  after- 

born,  adulterate  heresies,  have  been  formed  by  innovation,  as 

also  those  that,  later  still,  have  come  after  them.8     From  what 

has  been  said,  it  is,  I  think,  plain,  that  one  is  the  true  Church, 

that  which  is  really  ancient,  into  which  are  enrolled  the  just 

according  to  God's  purpose."—  Strom.  I  vii.  pp.  896-9. 

TERTULLIAX,  L.  C.—  -  The  Apostle  advises  Titus  that  A 
man  that  is  a  heretic,  after  the  first  rebuke,  must  le  rejected, 
knowing  that  he  that  is  such  an  one  w  perverted  and  sinneth, 
as  leing  condemned  of  himself  (Tit.  iii.  10,  11).  But  in  al 
most  every  epistle,  besides  inculcating  the  avoiding  false  doc 
trines,  he  censures  heresies,  the  works  whereof  are  false  doc 
trines  :  which  are  called  by  a  Greek  word  <  heresies  '  in  the 
sense  of  <  choice,'  which  a  man  exercises  either  to  establish,  or 
to  adopt  them.  Therefore,  also  did  he  say,  that  a  heretic  is 
self  -condemned,  because  he  hath  chosen  for  himself  even  that 
wherein  he  is  condemned.  But  for  us  it  is  not  lawful  to  in 
troduce  anything  of  our  own  choice,  as  neither  is  it,  to  choose 
that  which  any  one  may  have  introduced  of  his  own  choice. 


< 

!  utraytretTepas  ravral,  xal  rdt  en  rovroor  vxofit- 
ptjxvtctS  TK  xporu  KEKaivorovijriai  *apaXapax6ct<SaS  aipetets. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  253 

We  have  for  our  authors  the  Apostles  of  the  Lord,  who  did 
not  even  themselves  choose  anything  to  be  introduced  of  their 
own  will,  but  faithfully  delivered  over  to  the  nations  the 
religion  (disciplinam)  which  they  had  received  from  Christ. 
Wherefore,  though  an  angel  from  heaven  should  preach  oth 
erwise,  he  would  be  called  by  us  anathema"  .  .  . 

7.  "  What,  then,  hath  Athens  to  do  with  Jerusalem  ?    What 
the  academy  with  the  Church?     What  heretics  with  Chris 
tians  ?     Our  school  is  of  the  porch  of  Solomon,  who  himself, 
also,  hath  delivered  unto  us,  that  the  Lord  is  to  be  sought  in 
simplicity  of  heart ." 

8.  "  For  us  there  is  no  need  of  curiosity,  since  Christ  Jesus  ; 
nor  of  inquiry,  after  the  gospel.     When  we  do  believe,  we  do 
not  desire  to  believe  anything  besides.     For  this  we  believe 
from  the  first,  that  there  is  nothing  which  we  ought  to  believe 
besides."— De  Prescript.  Heret.pp.  204,  205.     The  continu- 
ation  is  given  under  "  Private  Judgment" 

20.  "Christ  Jesus  our  Lord  ...  did  Himself,  while  He 
lived  in  the  world,  declare  what  He  was,  what  He  had  been, 
of  what  will  of  the  Father  He  was  the  minister  ;  what  He  de 
termined  should  be  done  by  man  ;  either  openly  to  the  people, 
or  apart  to  His  disciples,  out  of  whom  He  had  chosen  to  be 
attached  to  His  person,  twelve  principal  ones,  the  destined 
teachers  of  the  nations.  Wherefore,  one  of  them  being  struck 
off,  He,  when  departing  to  the  Father,  after  His  resurrection, 
commanded  the  other  eleven  to  go  and  teach  the  nations  who 
were  to  be  baptized  into  the  Father,  and  into  the  Son,  and 
into  the  Holy  Ghost.  Immediately,  therefore,  the  Apostles 
(whom  this  title  denoteth  as  '  sent ')  having  chosen  by  lot  a 
twelfth,  Matthias,  into  the  room  of  Judas,  on  the  authority  of 
a  prophecy,  which  is  in  a  psalm  of  David,  having  obtained  the 
promised  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  for  miracles  and  utterance, 
first  having  throughout  Judaea  borne  witness  to  the  faith  in 
Christ  Jesus,  and  established  churches,  next  went  forth  into 
the  world,  and  promulgated  the  same  doctrine  of  the  same  faith 
to  the  nations ;  and  forthwith  founded  churches  in  every  city, 


254  APOSTOLICITY 

from  which  (churches)  the  other  churches  thenceforward  bor 
rowed  the  tradition  of  the  faith  '  and  the  seeds  of  doctrine,  and 
are  daily  borrowing  them,  that  they  may  become  churches : 
and  for  this  cause,  they  are  themselves  also  accounted  apos 
tolical,  as  being  the  offspring  of  apostolical  churches.  The 
whole  kind  must  needs  be  classed  under  their  original.  Where 
fore,  these  churches,  so  many  and  so  great,  are  but  that  one 
primitive  Church  from  the  Apostles,  whence  they  all  sprang. 
Thus,  all  are  the  primitive,  and  all  apostolical ;  whilst  all  be 
ing  one,  prove  unity ;  whilst  there  is  between  them  the  com 
munication  of  peace,  and  the  title  of  brotherhood,  and  the 
token  of  hospitality,  which  rights  no  other  principle  directs 
than  the  unity  of  the  tradition  of  the  same  mystery  (sacrament.)" 
21.  "  On  this  principle,  therefore,  we  shape  our  rule  of  pre 
scription  :  that  if  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  sent  the  Apostles  to 
preach,  no  others  are  to  be  received  as  preachers  than  those 
whom  Christ  appointed,  for  no  one  know eth  the  Father  save  the 
Son,  and  he  to  whom  the  Son  hath  revealed  Him  (Matt,  xi.)  ; 
neither  does  the  Son  seem  to  have  revealed  Him  to  any  other 
than  the  Apostles,  whom  He  sent  to  preach,  to  wit  that  which 
He  revealed  unto  them.  Now,  what  they  did  preach,  that  is, 
what  Christ  did  reveal  unto  them,  I  will  here  also  rule,  must 
be  proved  in  no  other  way  than  by  those  same  churches  which 
the  Apostles  themselves  founded,  themselves  by  preaching  to 
them  as  well  viva  voce,  as  men  say,  as  afterwards  by  epistles. 
If  these  things  be  so,  it  becomes  forthwith  manifest,  that  all 
doctrine  which  agrees  with  those  apostolic  churches,  the  wombs 
and  originals  of  the  faith,  must  be  accounted  true,  as  without 
doubt  containing  that  which  the  churches  have  received  from 
the  Apostles,  the  Apostles  from  Christ,  Christ  from  God; 
but  that  every  doctrine  must  be  judged  at  once  to  be  false, 
which  savoreth  things  contrary  to  the  truth  of  the  churches, 
and  of  the  Apostles,  and  of  Christ,  and  of  God.  It  remains, 
therefore,  that  we  show  whether  this  our  doctrine,  the  rule  of 
which  we  have  above  declared,  be  derived  from  the  tradition 


Traducem  fidei  (literally,  "  grafts  of  the  faith  "). 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  255 

of  the  Apostles,  and,  from  this  very  fact,  whether  the  other 
doctrines  come  of  falsehood.  "We  have  communion  with  the 
apostolic  churches,  because  we  have  no  doctrine  differing 
from  them.  This  is  evidence  of  truth. 

22.  "  But  since  the  proof  is  so  short,  that  if  it  be  brought 
forward  at  once,  there  would  be  no  farther  question  to  be 
treated  of,  let  us  for  awhile,  as  though  it  were  not  brought 
forward  by  us,  give  place  to  the  other  party,  if  they  think  that 
they  can  do  anything  towards  invalidating  this  rule  of  pre 
scription."—  Ibid.  pp.  208,  209.  [Tertullian  then  gives  the 
arguments  urged  in  his  day,  by  the  separatists,  to  get  rid  of 
the  above  plain  argument.  Those  separatists  contended,  that 
the  Apostles  were  not  fully  instructed  in  all  Christian  truths, 
alleging  St.  Paul's  rebuking  St.  Peter ;  and  secondly  that  the 
Apostles  did  not  communicate  to  all,  the  entire  body  of  Chris 
tian  truth.  A  part  of  Tertullian's  answer  to  the  first  objec 
tion  is  given  under  the  head  "  Primacy  of  St.  Peter."]  lie 
then  continues : 

27.  "  If,  therefore,  it  is  incredible,  either  that  the  Apostles 
were  ignorant  of  the  fulness  of  the  Gospel  message,  or  that 
they  did  not  make  known  to  all  the  whole  order  of  the  rule 
(of  faith),  let  us  see  whether  perchance  the  Apostles  taught  it 
simply  and  fully,  but  the  churches,  through  their  own  fault, 
received  it  otherwise  than  the  Apostles  set  it  forth.  All  these 
incentives  to  scrupulous  doubt,  thou  mayest  find  put  forward 
by  the  heretics.  They  take  hold  of  the  churches  rebuked  by 
the  Apostles  :  0  senseless  Galatians,  who  hath  bewitched  you? 
And,  You  did  run  so  well,  who  hindereth  you  ?  And  the  very 
commencement  (of  the  Epistle)  I  wonder  that  you  are  so  soon 
removed  from  him  who  called  his  own  in  grace,  unto  another 
Gospel.  .  .  .  When  they  object  to  us  that  the  churches  were 
reproved,  let  them  believe  that  they  were  amended ;  and  let 
them  also  recollect  those,  concerning  whose  faith,  and  know 
ledge,  and  conversation,  the  Apostle  rejoices,  and  giveth  God 
thanks,  which,  nevertheless,  at  this  day  join  with  those  which 
were  reproved,  in  the  privileges  of  one  instituted  body." 


256  APOSTOLICITY 

28.  "  "Well,  then  :  be  it  that  all  have  erred  ;  that  the  Apostle 
also  was  deceived  in  the  testimony  which  he  gave  (in  favor  of 
some)  ;  that  the  Holy  Spirit  had  regard  to  no  one  of  them  so 
as  to  guide  it  into  truth,  although  for  this  sent  by  Christ,  for 
this  asked  of  the  Father,  that  he  might  be  the  Teacher  of 
truth ;  that  he,  the  Steward  of  God,  the  Viceregent  of  Christ, 
neglected  his  office,  suffering  the  churches  the  while  to  under 
stand  differently,  to  believe  differently,  that  which  he  him 
self  preached   by  the  Apostles, — is  it  likely,  that  so  many 
churches,  and  so  great,  should  have  gone  astray  into  one  faith  ? 
Never  is  there  one  result  among  many  chances :  the  error  in 
the  doctrine  of  the  churches  must  needs  have  varied.     But 
what  is  found  (one  and  the  same)  amongst  many,  is  not  error, 
but  tradition.1     Let  any  one,  then,  dare  to  say  that  they  were 
in  error  who  delivered  it. 

29.  u  However,  the  error  was  ;  error,  I  suppose,  reigned  as 
long  as  there   were  no  heresies!     Truth  waited  for  certain 
Marcionites  and  Yalentinians,  that  it  might  be  set  free.    Mean 
while  the  Gospel  was  preached  amiss  ;  men  believed  amiss ; 
so  many  thousands  of  thousands  were  baptized  amiss  ;  so  many 
works  of  faith  were  done  amiss ;  so  many  miracles,  so  many 
spiritual  gifts  were  wrought  amiss ;  so  many  priesthoods,  so 
many  ministries  discharged  amiss;  finally,  so  many  martyr 
doms  crowned  amiss  ;  or  if  not  amiss,  nor  in  vain,  what  thing 
is  this,  that  the  things  of  God  should  be  going  forward  before 
it   was   known   of  what  God  they  were  ?     That  there  were 
Christians,  before  Christ  was  found  ?     Heresy  before  true  doc 
trine  ?     Whereas  in  all  things  the  truth  goes  before  its  copy, 
the  likeness  comes  after  the  reality  :  but  it  is  absurd  enough 
that  what  came  first  in  doctrine  should  be  accounted  the  heresy, 
were  it  only  that  it  is  this  which  declared  beforehand  that 
men  must  beware  of  heresies  which  should  be  hereafter.     It 
was  written  to  a  church  of  this  doctrine,  yea,  the  doctrine  it 
self  writes  to  its  own  church  :  Though,  an  angel  from  heaven 

1  Ceterum   quod  apud   multos  unum   invenitur,  non  est  erratum,  sed 
traditum. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  257 

should  preach  a  gospel  to  you  besides  that  which  we  have 
preached,  let  him  be  anathema. 

30.  u  Where  then  was  Marcion,  the  ship-owner  of  Pontus, 
the  zealous  disciple  of  stoicism  ?     Where  was  Yalentinus,  the 
follower  of  Platonism?     For  it  is  agreed  that  they  lived,  not 
so  long  ago,  in  the  reign,  speaking  generally,  of  Antoninus, 
and  that  they  at  first  believed  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  in  the  Church  of  Kome,  under  the  episcopate  of  the 
blessed  Eleutherius,  until,  by  reason  of  their  ever  restless  curi 
osity  which  the  brethren  also  avoided,  being  once  and  again 
expelled  (Marcion  indeed  with  the  two  hundred  sesterces  which 
he  brought  into  the  Church),  and  being  at  last  condemned  to 
the  banishment  of  a  perpetual  separation,  they  disseminated 
the  poisons  of  their  doctrines.  .  .  .  There  are  yet  living  in  the 
world  those  who  remember  them,  even  their  own  disciples  and 
successors,  so  that  they  may  not  deny  that  they  are  of  a  later 
date.     Although,  by  their  works  also,  as  the  Lord  hath  said, 
are  they  convicted.     For  if  Marcion  separated  the  New  Testa 
ment  from  the  Old,  he  is  later  than  that  which  he  separated, 
because  he  could  not  separate  save  that  which  was  united ; 
being  therefore  united  before  that  it  was  separated,  when  it 
was  afterwards  separated,  it  shows  that  the  separator  was  later. 
So  also  Yalentinus,  expounding  differently,   and  of   course 
amending,  for  this  very  reason  showeth  that  whatsoever  he 
amendeth,  as  being  faulty  before,  was  before.     These  men  we 
name   as  the  most  remarkable,  and  the  most  frequent  cor- 
rupters  of  the  truth.     But  let  Nigidius  (who  he  is  I  know  not), 
and  Hermogenes,  and  many  others,  who  still  walk  perverting 
the  ways  of  God,  show  me  by  what  authority  they  have  come 
forward.     If  they  preach  another  God,  why  do  they  use  the 
things,  and  the  scriptures,  and  the  names  of  that  God,  against 
whom  they  preach?     If  the  same  God,  why  in  another  way? 
Let  them  prove  themselves  to  be  new  apostles  ;    let  them  say 
that  Christ  has  again  come  down  ;  has  again  taught  in  person ; 
been  again  crucified,  again  dead,  and  a  second  time  raised 
again ;  for  it  is  thus  He  is  wont  to  make  Apostles,  and  to  give 


258  APOSTOLICITY 

them  in  addition  the  power  of  working  the  same  wonders  as 
He  Himself  worked.  I  want  therefore  that  their  mighty 
works  too  be  produced  ;  though  indeed  I  acknowledge  that 
mightiest  work  of  theirs,  whereby  they  rival  the  Apostles,  but 
in  an  opposite  way  ;  for  they  made  living  men  out  of  the  dead, 
these  make  dead  men  of  the  living. 

31.  "  But  from  this  digression  I  will  now  return  to  our  dis 
cussion  on  the  priority  of  truth,  and  the  later  date  of  falsehood, 
with  the  support  too  of  that  parable,  which  places  first  the  sow 
ing  of  the  good  seed  of  the  wheat  by  the  Lord,  and  brings  in 
afterwards  the  mixture  of  the  sterile  produce  of  the  wild  oats, 
as  sown  by  His  enemy  the  devil.  For  it  properly  represents 
the  distinction  of  doctrines,  because  in  other  places  also  the 
word  of  God  is  likened  to  seed.  Thus  from  the  very  order  is 
it  made  manifest,  that  what  was  first  delivered  is  of  the  Lord 
and  true,  but  what  was  afterwards  introduced,  foreign  and 
false.  This  sentence  will  remain  against  all  later  heresies 
whatever,  which  have  no  conscientious  ground  of  confidence 
whereon  to  claim  the  truth  for  their  own  side. 

32.  "  But  if  any  (heresies)  dare  to  place  themselves  in  the 
midst  of  the  apostolic  age,  that  they  may  therefore  seem  to 
have  been  handed  down  from  the  Apostles,  because  they  ex 
isted  under  the  Apostles,  we  may  say  :  let  them  then  make 
known  the  originals  of  their  churches,  let  them  unroll  the  line 
of  their  bishops,  so  coming  down  by  successions  from  the  be 
ginning,  that  their  first  bishop  had  for  his  author1  and  pre 
decessor  some  one  of  the  Apostles,  or  of  apostolic  men,  so  he 
were  one  that  continued  steadfast  with  the  Apostles.  For  in 
this  manner  do  the  apostolic  churches  reckon  their  origin ; ' 
as  the  church  of  the  Smyrneans  recounts  that  Polycarp  was 
placed  there  by  John ;  as  that  of  the  Komans  does  that  Clement 
was  in  like  manner  ordained  by  Peter ;  just  as  also  the  rest 
show  those,  whom,  being  appointed  by  the  Apostles  to  the 

1  Auctorem  (ordainer). 

2  Census  suos  deferunt.    So  Rigaltius  interprets.     It  may  also  mean 
their  registries  (of  succession). 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  25<) 

episcopate,  they  have  as  transmitters  of  the  apostolic  seed. 
Let  the  heretics  counterfeit  something  of  the  same  sort ;  for, 
after  blasphemy,  what  is  unlawful  for  them?  But  even 
though  they  should  counterfeit  it,  they  will  advance  never  a 
step.  For  their  doctrine  itself,  when  compared  with  that  of 
the  Apostles,  will,  by  the  difference  and  contrariety  between 
them,  declare  that  it  had  neither  any  Apostle,  nor  any  apostolic 
man,  for  its  author  ;  because,  as  the  Apostles  would  not  have 
taught  things  differing  from  each  other,  so  neither  would 
apostolic  men  have  set  forth  things  contrary  to  the  Apostles, 
unless  those  who  learned  from  Apostles  preached  a  different 
doctrine.  According  to  this  test,  then,  they  will  be  tried  by 
those  churches,  which,  although  they  can  bring  forward  as 
their  founder  no  one  of  the  Apostles,  or  of  apostolic  men,  as 
being  of  later  date,  and  indeed  are  rising  every  day,  neverthe 
less,  since  they  agree  in  the  same  faith,  are,  by  reason  of  their 
kindred  doctrine,  accounted  not  the  less  apostolical.  So  let 
all  heresies,  when  challenged  by  our  churches  to  both  these 
tests,  prove  themselves  apostolical  in  whatever  they  think 
themselves  so  to  be.  But  in  truth  they  neither  are  so,  nor  can 
they  prove  themselves  to  be  what  they  are  not ;  nor  are  they 
received  into  peace  and  communion  by  churches  in  any  way 
apostolical,  to  wit,  because  they  are  in  no  way  apostolical,  by 
reason  of  the  difference  of  the  sacred  mystery  which  they 
teach.1 

34.  ...  "  Let  then  all  the  heresies  choose  their  dates  for 
themselves,  w^hich  were  when — provided  there  intervene  this 
which  were  when 2 — they  being  not  of  the  truth.  Assuredly 
those  which  were  not  named  by  the  Apostles,  could  not  have 
existed  under  the  Apostles  ;  for  if  they  had,  they  two  would 
have  been  named,  that  they  too  might  be  repressed  ;  but  those 
which  did  exist  under  the  Apostles,  are,  in  being  named,  con 
demned.  Whether  therefore  those  same  heresies,  which  under 

1  Ob  diversitatem  sacramenti.     "  Sacramentum  "  is  several  times  used 
by  Tertullian  for  the  whole  scheme  of  Christianity. 

2  Quae  quando  fuerint,  dummodo  intersit  quae  quando. 


260  APOSTOLICITY 

the  Apostles  were  in  a  rough  form,  be  now  somewhat  more 
polished,  they  have  thence  their  condemnation  :  or  whether 
they  were  different,  but  others  that  have  since  sprung  up  have 
adopted  something  from  them,  in  sharing  with  them  a  fellow 
ship  of  doctrine,  they  must  needs  share  also  in  the  same  fel 
lowship  of  condemnation,  according  to  the  precedent  of  that 
definite  limitation  which  has  been  named  above,  touching  the 
later  date,  whereby,  although  they  had  no  part  in  the  con 
demned  doctrines,  they  would  be  condemned  at  once  on  the 
ground  of  their  age  alone,  being  so  much  the  more  false,  as 
not  being  even  named  by  the  Apostles.  Whereby  it  the  more 
certainly  appears,  that  these  are  they  which  even  then  were 
announced  as  about  to  be. 

35.  "  Challenged  by  us  according  to  these  maxims,  and  re 
futed,  let  all  heresies — whether  those  which  are  after,  or  those 
which  are  coeval  with  the  Apostles,  so  long  as  they  differ  from 
them,  whether  generally  or  specially  noted  by  them,  so  long 
as  they  are  pre-condemned  by  them — dare  themselves  also  to 
allege  in  answer  any  prescriptive  plea  of  this  kind  against  our 
system.     For  if  they  deny  its  truth,  they  are  bound  to  prove 
that  it  also  is  heresy,  refuted  by  the  same  rule  by  which  they 
themselves  are  refuted ;  and  at  the  same  time  to  show  where 
that  truth  is  to  be  sought,  which  it  is  already  proved  is  not 
with  them.     Our  system  is  not  of  subsequent  date — nay,  it  is 
prior  to  every  other ;    this  will  be  evidence  of  truth,  which 
everywhere  is  in  possession  of  priority  :  by  the  Apostles  it 
certainly  is  not  condemned,  nay,  is  defended — this  will  be  the 
mark  of  its  being  their  own.     For  that  doctrine  which  they 
condemn  not,  who  have  condemned  every  doctrine  foreign  to 
them,  they  show  to  be  their  own,  and  therefore  also  advocate  it. 

36.  "  Come   now,  thou  that  wilt  exercise  thy  curiosity  to 
better  purpose  in  the  business  of  thy  salvation,  run  over  the 
apostolic  churches,  in  which  the  very  chairs  of  the  Apostles, 
to  this  very  day,  preside  over  their  own  places,  in  which  their 
own  authentic  writings  are  read,  echoing  the  voice,  and  mak 
ing  the  face  of  each  present.     Is  Achaia  near  to  thee  ?     Thou 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  261 

hast  Corinth.  If  thou  art  not  far  from  Macedonia,  thou  hast 
Philippi,  thou  hast  the  Thessalonians.  If  thou  canst  travel  into 
Asia,  thou  hast  Ephesus.  But  if  thou  art  near  to  Italy,  thou 
hast  Eome,  whence  we  also  have  an  authority  at  hand.  That 
Church,  how  happy !  on  which  the  Apostles  poured  out  all 
their  doctrine  with  their  blood ;  where  Peter  had  a  like  Pas 
sion  with  the  Lord;  where  Paul  is  crowned  with  an  end  like 
the  Baptist's ;  where  the  Apostle  John  was  plunged  into  boil 
ing  oil,  and  suffered  nothing,  and  was  afterwards  banished  to 
an  island ;  let  us  see  what  she  hath  learned,  what  taught,  what 
fellowship  she  hath  had  with  the  churches  of  Africa  likewise.1 
She  acknowledges  one  God,  the  Creator  of  the  universe,  and 
Christ  Jesus  the  Son  of  God  the  Creator,  born  of  the  virgin 
Mary,  and  the  resurrection  of  the  flesh.  She  unites  the  law  and 
the  prophets  with  the  evangelical  and  apostolical  writings,  and 
thence  drinketh  faith ;  that  faith  she  seals  with  water,  clothes 
with  the  Holy  Spirit,  feeds  with  the  eucharist,  exhorts  to 
martyrdom,  and  so  receives  no  one  in  opposition  to  this  teach 
ing.  This  is  that  teaching,  which  I  do  not  now  say  foretold 
that  heresies  should  come,  but  from  which  heresies  have  pro 
ceeded  forth.  But  they  were  not  of  her,  from  the  time  when 
they  began  to  be  against  her.  Even  from  the  kernel  of  the 
mild,  rich,  necessary  olive,  the  rough  wild  olive  springs ;  even 
from  the  seed  of  the  most  delightful  and  most  sweet  fig  arises 
the  empty  and  useless  wild  fig.  So  also  heresies  are  of  our 
fruit,  not  of  our  kind ;  from  the  seed  of  truth,  but,  through 
falsehood,  wild. 

37.  "  If  these  things  be  so,  so  that  the  truth  be  adjudged  to 
us,  as  many  as  walk  according  to  that  rule  which  the  Church 
has  handed  down  from  the  Apostles,  the  Apostles  from  Christ, 
Christ  from  God,  the  reasonableness  of  our  proposition  is 
manifest,  which  determines  that  heretics  are  not  to  be  allowed 
to  enter  upon  an  appeal  to  the  Scriptures,  whom  we  prove, 
without  the  Scriptures,  to  have  no  concern  with  the  Scrip- 

1  Cum  Africanis  quoque  ecclesiis  contesserarit,  may  be  translated  : 
"  what  tokens  of  doctrine  she  hath  sent  to  the  churches  of  Africa." 


262  APOSTOLICITY    , 

tures.  For  if  they  be  heretics,  they  cannot  be  Christians,  in 
that  they  have  not  from  Christ  that,  which  having  followed 
of  their  own  choosing,  they  admit  the  names  of  heretics. 
Then,  not  being  Christians,  they  have  no  right  to  Christian 
writings.  To  such  it  may  be  justly  said,  Who  are  you? 
When,  and  whence  came  ye  ?  Not  being  mine,  what  do  ye  in 
that  which  is  mine  ?  In  brief,  by  what  right  dost  thou,  Mar- 
cion,  cut  down  my  wood  ?  By  what  license  dost  thou,  Yalen- 
tinus,  turn  the  course  of  my  waters  \  By  what  power  dost 
thou,  Apelles,  remove  my  landmarks  ?  This  is  my  possession. 
Why  are  the  rest  of  you  sowing  and  feeding  here  at  your 
pleasure  ?  Mine  is  possession  ;  I  possess  of  old ;  I  have  prior 
possession ;  I  have  sound  title-deeds,  from  the  first  owners 
whose  property  it  was ;  I  am  heir  of  the  Apostles ;  as  they 
provided  by  their  own  testament,  as  they  committed  it  in 
trust,  as  they  have  charged  me,  so  I  hold  it.  You  assuredly 
they  have  ever  disinherited  and  renounced,  as  aliens,  as  ene 
mies.  But  whence  are  heretics  aliens  and  enemies  to  the 
Apostles,  except  from  the  diversity  of  doctrine  which  each  at 
his  own  pleasure  either  brought  forward  or  received,  in  oppo 
sition  to  the  Apostles  ?"  l — Hid.  p.  211,  et  seqq. 

"  That  this  rule  has  descended  from  the  beginning  of  the 
gospel,  even  before  the  earliest  of  the  heretics,  much  more 
before  Praxeas,  who  is  of  yesterday,  both  the  later  date  of 
all  heretics,  as  well  as  the  novelty  of  Praxeas  of  yesterday, 
will  prove.  By  which  method  we  have  previously  ruled 
against  all  heresies  indiscriminately,  that  whatsoever  is  first  is 
true,  and  that  whatsoever  is  later  is  false." — Adv.  Praxeam, 
n.  2,  j9.  501. 

CENTURY    III. 

ORIGEN,  G.  C. — "  There  being  many  who  fancy  that  they 
think  the  things  of  Christ,  and  some  of  these  think  differ 
ently  from  those  who  have  gone  before,  let  there  be  preserved 
the  ecclesiastical  teaching  which  has  been  delivered  by  the 

1  For  the  continuation  of  the  above  extract,  see  under  "Private  Judg 
ment.'" 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  263 

order  of  succession  from  the  Apostles,  and  which  remains 
even  to  the  present  in  the  churches :  that  alone  is  to  be  be 
lieved  to  be  truth  which  in  nothing  differs  from  the  ecclesi 
astical  and  apostolical  tradition." — T.  1,  De  Princip.  1.  1,  n. 
2,p.  47. 

"  We  are  not  to  abandon  the  first  and  the  ecclesiastical  tra 
dition,  nor  to  believe  otherwise  than  according  as  the  churches 
of  God  have  by  succession  transmitted  to  us." — T.  iii.  Comm. 
in  Matt.  (Tr.  29)  n.  46,  p.  864.  For  the  context  of  the  two 
preceding  extracts,  see  " Authority" 

ST.  CYPRIAN,  L.  C. — "  Our  Lord,  whose  precepts  and  admo 
nitions  we  ought  to  observe,  when  settling  the  honor  of  a 
bishop,  and  the  nature  of  his  Church,"  &c.,  as  given  under 
"  Authority  "  from  Ep.  xxvii.  Lapsis. 

"  This  is,  and  ought  to  be  our  special  study,  to  seek  to 
secure,  as  far  as  in  us  lies,  the  unity  delivered  by  the  Lord, 
and  through  the  Apostles  to  us  their  successors,1  and,  as  far  as 
we  are  able,  to  gather  into  the  Church  the  straying  and  wan 
dering  sheep  which  the  perverse  factiousness  and  heretical 

efforts  of  certain  persons  have  separated  from  the  mother." 

Ep.  xlii.  ad  Cornelium,  p.  128.  For  the  context,  see  "  Unity.''' 
"  Deacons  ought  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  Apostles,  that  is 
bishops  and  prelates,  the  Lord  chose  ; 2  but  that  the  Apostles, 
after  the  Lord's  ascension  into  heaven,  appointed  to  them 
selves  deacons,  as  ministers  to  their  episcopacy  and  to  the 
Church.  And  if  we  may  attempt  anything  against  God,  who 
makes  bishops,  deacons  too  may  against  us,  who  make  them 
deacons.  .  .  .  These,  to  please  themselves,  to  contemn  with 
swelling  pride  him  who  is  set  over  them,  are  the  beginnings  of 
heretics,  and  these  the  rise  and  essays  of  evil-minded  schis 
matics.  In  this  way  do  men  withdraw  from  the  Church,  in 
this  way  is  a  profane  altar  set  up  without;  in  this  way  do 
men  rebel  against  the  peace  of  Christ,  and  against  the  ordi 
nance  and  unity  of  God."— Ep.  Ixv.  ad  Rogatianum,p.  243. 

1  Unitatem  a  Domino,  et  per  apostolos  nobis  successoribus  traditazn. 

2  Apostolos,  i<i  est  episcopos  et  praepositos,  Domimis  elegit. 


264  APOSTOLICITY 

«  Neither  do  I  boast  of  these  things,  but  produce  them  with 
sorrow,  since  you  set  yourself  up  as  the  judge  of  God  and  of 
Christ,  who  says  to  the  Apostles,  and  thereby  to  all  prelates, 
who  succeed  to  the  Apostles  by  vicarious  ordination  : l  He 
that  heareth  you,  lieareth  me,  &c.  (St.  Luke  x.  16).  For,  hence 
have  schisms  and  heresies  taken  their  rise,  when  the  bishop, 
who  is  one  and  presides  over  a  church,  is  by  the  proud  pre 
sumption  of  individuals  contemned,  and  the  man  honored  by 
God  as  worthy,  is  by  men  judged  unworthy."  -Ep,  Ixix.  ad 
Fl.  Papianum,p.  203.  See  also  the  extract  from  Ep.  Ixxvi. 
ad  Magnum,  in  the  section  on  "  Unity." 

FIKMILIAN,  G.  C. '— "  The  power  of  remitting  sins  was  given 
to  the  Apostles,  and  to  the  churches  which  they,  sent  forth  by 
Christ,  founded,  and  to  the  bishops  who,  by  vicarious  ordina 
tion,3  have  succeeded  to  them.  But  the  enemies  of  the  one 
Catholic  Church,  in  which  we  are ;  and  they  who  are  against 
us,  who  have  succeeded  to  the  Apostles,4  claiming  to  them 
selves  against  us  unlawful  priesthoods,  and  setting  up  profane 
altars,  what  else  are  they  but  Core,  Dathan,  and  Abiron,  guilty 
of  the  same  sacrilege,  and  destined  to  the  same  punishment  as 
they  ;  they  and  all  who  agree  with  them,  even  as  also  then  their 
partners  and  supporters  perished  by  the  same  death." 

T^7h7c  adomnes^positos,  qui  apostolis  vicaria  ordinatione  succe- 
dunt  In  the  Council  of  Carthage,  A.D.  256,  presided  over  by  St.  Cyprian, 
Oarus  of  Mascula,  one  of  the  bishops  present,  says:  •«  Manifest  is  the  sen 
tence  o  ou r  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  when  He  sends  His  Apostles,  and  entrusts 
to  the  n  a  one  the  power  given  to  Himself  by  the  Father  ;  to  them  we  have 

ucceeded  with  the'same  power  governing  the  Church  of  the  Lord  (quibus 
nos  successimus,  eadem  potestate  ecclesiam  Domini  gubernantes).  -P.  606 
In  Ben.  Ed.  Op.  S.  Cypr. 

i  Bishop  of  Cnuiiea  in  Cappadocia,    the  friend   of  Ongen  and  ^ of  8 t. 
Cyprian   to  whom  the  letter  cited  in  the  text  is  addressed,  and  by  whom  i 
is  thought  to  have  been  translated.     There  are,  however,  arguments  of  con- 
e LSefo.ce  adduced  by  Father  M.  Molkenbuhr.  in  a  f-ertaUon  pub- 
hshed  in  1790,  which  would  seem  to  render  it  somewhat  doubtful  whether 

his  pi  ce  mav  not  be  the  production  of  a  writer  of  a  later  period.  The 
question  is  ably  treated  by  Lumper  (t.  xi.),  who  decides  m  favor  of  its 
genuineness.  Firmilian  died  about  the  year  273. 

3  Vicaria  ordinatione. 

4  Qui  apostolis  successimus. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  265 

Ep.  S.  Cypriani,  Ep.  Ixxv.  p.  307.     The  context  is  given  in 
the  section  on  the  "  Primacy  of  St.  Peter" 

ST.  ANATOLIUS,  G.  C.1— He  states  that  the  churches  of  Asia, 
pleading  the  authority  of  St.  John  the  Apostle,  kept  the  festi 
val  of  Easter  on  a  different  day  from  that  observed  at  Eome, 
"  Not  yielding  to  the  authority  of  certain  persons,  to  wit,  the 
successors  of  Peter  and  Paul,2  who*  instructed  all  the  churches 
wherein  they  sowed  the  spiritual  seeds  of  the  gospel,  that  the 
festival  of  the  Lord's  resurrection  could  be  celebrated  on  the 
Sunday  only.  Hence  also  a  dispute  arose  amongst  their  suc 
cessors,  Victor  that  is,  who  was  the  bishop  of  the  city  of  Eome, 
and  Polycrates,  who,  at  the  same  time  was  seen  to  bear  the 
primacy  amongst  the  bishops  of  Asia ; 3  a  dispute  which  was, 
with  great  propriety,  brought  to  a  peaceful  issue  by  Irenseus, 
the  bishop  of  a  part  of  Gaul ;  *  both  parties  continuing  in  their 
own  rule,  nor  deviating  from  the  practice  derived  from  anti 
quity." —  Canon  Paschal,  n.  x.  Gotland,  t.  iii.  p.  548. 

CENTURY  IV. 

EUSEBIUS,  G.  C. — "  Having  undertaken  to  commit  to  writ 
ing  the  successions  from  the  holy  Apostles,6  together  with  the 
series  of  events  which  have  happened  from  our  Saviour  to  our 
days,  as  also  the  many  and  great  events  which  ecclesiastical 
history  has  recorded,  and  to  name  those  who  especially  in  the 
most  celebrated  churches  have  laudably  acted  and  ruled 
I  shall  begin  from  the  incarnation  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ."— Eccles.  Hist.  Lib.  1,  c.  1,  pp.  1,  2.  This  he 
accordingly  does,  noticing  throughout  his  history  the  aposto- 

1  St.    Anatolius,    an   Alexandrian  by  birth,    was  appointed  bishop  of 
Laodicea  in  the  year  270;  the  date  of  his  death  is  not  known.      The  Greek 
of  the  above  work  is  lost,  but  the  Latin  translation  is  as  old  as  Rufinus, 
who  seems  to  be  indeed  the  author  of  it,  as  Gallandius  shows.      The  edition 
used  is  Galland.  t.  iii. 

2  Non  acquiescentes  auctoritati  quorumdam,  id  est  Petri  et  Paulli  suc- 
cessorum. 

3  In  episcopis  Asiae  primatum  gerere  videbatur. 

4  Galliae  partis  praesule,  may  mean  "prelate  of  the  district  of  Gaul." 
'  T&S  TGOV  iepdov 


266  APOSTOLICITY 

lical  succession  in  the  sees  of   the  principal  churches.     See 
Lib.  ii.  c.  24  ;  Lib.  iii.  c.  2,  3,  smd  passim. 

"  Very  many  ecclesiastical  men  at  this  time  struggled  in  de 
fence  of  the  truth,  with  just  reasoning  contending  for  both  the 
apostolical  and  ecclesiastical  doctrine;  '  some  moreover  also  by 
writings."—//.  E.  L.  iv.  c.  7. 

"  And  1  will  establish  his  seed  for  evermore,  and  his  throne 
as  the  days  of  heaven  (Ps.  Ixxxviii.  30).     What  are  we  to  un 
derstand  by  the  seed  of  Christ,  but  the  churches  established 
by  Him  throughout  the  whole  universe,  and  they  who  amongst 
all  nations  have  been  regenerated  unto  Him  ?     But  His  throne 
is  that  which  lias  been  constituted  in  His  Church,  throughout 
the  whole  universe,  by  means  of  the  prelates  who  are  by  suc 
cession  from  Him.3     A  thrum  which  He  says  endures  as  the 
days  of  heaven.     Not  like  to  the  regal  throne  of  the  Jews, 
which,  having   endured   for   a  while,  passed  away;  but  the 
throne  here  foretold,  by  means  of  the  above-named  prelates  of 
the  Church,  endures  and  is  preserved,  even  as  the  days  of  hea 
ven.     And  if  it  should  ever  happen  that  the  people,  and  the 
sons  of   him  who   is   prophesied  of,  I  mean    his  successors, 
should  act  sinfully,  He  says  that  they  should  indeed  suffer  a 
reverse  through  persecutions,  but  that  never  should  they  be 
cast  from  their  thrones,3  nor  be  deprived  of  the  mercy  of 
God.  .  .  .  And  as  it  was  needful  not  to  think  that  such  pro 
mises  are  announced  in  simple  and  bare  words,  he  resumes, 
and  repeats  the  declaration,  sealing  with  an  oath  what  had  been 
said,  in  confirmation  of    the  promises.     Therefore,  says  He, 
Once  have  I  sworn  by  my  holiness  ;  I  will  not  lie  unto  David, 
his  seed  endures  for  ever,  and  his  throne  as  the  sun  before 
me,  and  as  the  moon  perfect  for  ever,  and  a  faithful  witness 
in  heaven  (ver.  36,  38).     God  cannot  lie,  even  though  He  make 
a  promise  without  an  oath.     But  as  it  was  needful  that,  speak 
ing  to  men,  He  should  accommodate  Himself  to  human  ways, 


1  Tk  rfr  dnotToXiKfc  nal  lKx\.rf6ia6TiK& 

*  Aid  rear  £$  avrov  Hard  diadoxwv  Ttposdpooy. 

8  M.TI  kHitetiEltibai  Ttore  TWV 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  267 

even  as  men  swear  and  appeal  to  God  as  a  witness  to  give  cre 
dit  to  their  own  words,  so,  also,  He  says  that  He  has  sworn, 
and  will  not  be  false  to  His  oath,  that,  as  the  divine  Apostle 
says,  By  two  immutable  things  in  which  it  is  impossible  for 
God  to  lie,  we  may  have  the  strongest  comfort  (Hebr.  vi.  16). 
But  what  does  this  oath  contain  ?  His  seed,  He  says,  endures 
for  ever.  This  first :  and  this,  the  first  promise,  is  concerning 
the  seed,  of  which  He  had  already  said,  /  will  establish  his 
seed  for  evermore.  He  pointed  out  the  succession  of  Christ. 
But  the  second  promise  is  concerning  the  afore-named  throne. 
Therefore  does  He  say,  And  his  throne  as  the  sun  before  me, 
and  as  the  moon  perfect  for  ever.  He  says,  then,  that  the  seed, 
that  is,  the  disseminated  word  of  Christ,  or  His  people,  and 
the  Church,  shall  never  be  corrupted,  nor  fail : '  and  that  the 
throne  would  endure  for  evermore,  or,  according  to  Symma- 
chus,  as  the  moon  remain  firm  for  ever.  Thus  also  shall  be  the 
ecclesiastical  throne  of  Christ.  Does  the  preceding  phrase, 
once  have  I  sworn  by  my  holy  one,  and  what  is  subjoined,  his 
seed  endurethfor  ever,  prophesy  that  the  seed  of  His  holy  one 
shall  be  victorious  for  ever  ...  so  as  that  the  seed  of  the  holy 
one  of  God,  to  wit  of  the  only-begotten  of  God,  is  the  doc 
trine  which  He  sowed  upon  earth,  He  himself  being  the  sower 
of  it,  according  to  that  parable,  spoken  by  Him,  in  which  He 
says  :  The  sower  went  out  to  sow  his  seed,  and  the  rest  (Luke 
viii.  5)  ?  .  .  .  The  event  by  facts  confirming  the  truth  of  the 
word.  For  we  see  with  our  own  eyes,  the  horn  of  David, 
that  is  the  seed,  and  the  succession  of  our  Saviour,  Jesus 
Christ,  yea,  also  the  heavenly  seed  of  the  evangelic  doctrine 
of  the  holy  one  of  God,  His  only- begotten  word,  that  was  cast 
upon  the  earth,  enduring  through  ages  ;  and,  indeed,  we  also  be 
hold  His  throne  established  in  the  Church  throughout  the  whole 
universe,  in  all  nations,  cities,  villages,  and  places,  filling  the 
universal  world." — Comm.inPs.  Ixxxvii.  T.  1,  Nov.  Collect. 
(Montfaucon)  pp.  572-574.  See  also  Ibid.  p.  576. 

1  Tor  Xadv  avrov  nat  rrjv  k.KKXy<5iav ,  ov  SiacpQapydstiQai 
ovSe 


268  APOSTOLICITY 

"  And  after  this  tkou  shalt  be  called  the  city  of  righteous 
ness,  the  faithful  metropolis  Sion  •  for  with  judgment  shall 
her  captivity  be  redeemed  (Is.  i.  26,  27).  He  thus  afterwards 
addresses  the  common  city  that  was  to  be  established,  calling 
it  the  city  of  righteousness  and  the  faithful  metropolis  Sion, 
for  thus  lie  designates  that  system  of  godly  institution.  This, 
which  was  of  old  full  of  wisdom  amongst  the  Jews,  utterly 
fell  away ;  but  has  now  been  raised  up,  by  means  of  the 
Church  of  Christ,  throughout  the  whole  world,  being  built 
upon  the  rock.  The  rulers  of  this  fair  city,  and  its  judges, 
and  councillors  took  their  rise,  the  Apostles  and  disciples  of 
the  Saviour ;  but  they,  even  now,  by  succession  from  them,1 
as  sprung  from  a  good  seed,  are  conspicuous,  being  set  as  gov 
ernors  of  the  Church  of  God." — Comment,  in  Ilesai.  c.  i.  T. 
\\.  p.  362,  Nova  Collect.  Explaining  Isaias  ix.  6,  he  says, 
"  What  rulers  does  He  mean,  but  those  appointed  by  Him  to 
rule  His  Church  ?  I  mean  His  disciples  and  Apostles,  and 
those  who,  throughout  the  whole  world,  have  received  their 
succession  from  them  ; 3  to  whom  He  gave  to  have  healthful- 
ness,  and  peace  of  soul  with  each  other,  in  those  words  which 
He  addressed  to  them  ;  My  peace  I  give  unto  you  •  my  peace 
I  leave  with  you  ;  great  is  his  principality,  and  of  his  power 
there  shall  be  no  end" — Ibid.  Com.  in  lies.  c.  ix. p.  390. 

ST.  HILARY,  L.  C. — "  For  there  are  from  that  one  Church  of 
the  Apostles  .  .  .  many  churches  and  many  tents,  but  in 
those  many  there  is  the  same  resting-place  of  God."  !  —Comm. 
in  Ps.  cxxxi.  n.  14,  p.  509. 

"  We  think  that  we  may  meet  with  the  approval  of  all  Ca 
tholics  thus  :  that  it  behooves  us  not  to  recede  from  the  re 
ceived  creed  (Mcaea)  which,  after  being  examined  by  all  of  us, 
we  have  in  all  its  parts  approved  :  and  that  we  shall  not  re 
cede  from  the  faith,  which  we  have  received  through  the 


1  'En  8k  rj/s 

*  Tov<3  drj  rrjv  TOVTGOV 

3  Sunt  enira  ex  una  apostolorum  ecclesia  .  .  .  plures  ecclesiae  .  .  .  sed 
eadem  Dei  requies  in  pluribus  est. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  269 

prophets, — the  Holy  Spirit  teaching  from  God  the  Father 
through  Christ  our  Lord, — and  in  the  gospels,  and  in  all 
the  Apostles,  as  once  laid  it  continues  even  to  this  day, 
through  the  tradition  of  the  fathers,  according  to  a  succes 
sion  from  the  Apostles,1  even  to  the  discussion  had  at  Mcaea 
against  the  heresy  which  had,  at  that  period,  sprung  up."- 
Ex.  op.  Hist.  Fragm.  vii.  (Defin.  Cathol.  in  Condi.  Arim.) 
n.  3,  t.  ii.p.  684. 

COUNCIL  OF  ANCYRA,  G.  C. — The  synodical  epistle  of  this 
council,  which  was  held  in  358,  says  :  u  We,  therefore,  beseech 
you,  most  honored  lords,  and  fellow-ministers,  praying  you 
that  your  delight  be  in  the  faith  transmitted  by  the  fathers, 
and  that  you  would  signify  that  you  think  harmoniously  with 
what  we  have  believed ;  that  so  they  who  presume  to  intro 
duce  tins  ungodliness,  being  fully  certified  that,  having  re 
ceived  the  faith  as  an  inheritance,  from  the  times  of  the  Apos 
tles,  through  the  fathers  who  have  been  in  the  period  inter 
mediate  between  those  and  our  days,  we  guard  it ;  and  either 
filled  with  shame  they  will  be  corrected,  or  persevering  they 
will  be  proscribed  from  the  Church." — Epis.  Synod,  op.  Bo 
lus.  Nov.  Collect.  Condi,  p.  37. 

ST.  ATHANASIUS,  G.  C. — See  the  extracts  given  under  "  Au 
thority." 

"  In  what  concerns  the  faith,  they  (the  fathers  at  the  coun 
cil  of  Nicsea)  wrote  not  '  It  has  seemed  good,'  but,  '  Thus  be 
lieves  the  Catholic  Church,'  and  at  once  confessed  how  they 
believed,  thereby  to  show  that  their  sentiment  was  not  novel, 
but  apostolical,2  and  that  what  they  wrote  down,  is  not  a  dis 
covery  of  their  own,  but  the  same  as  the  Apostles  had  taught." 
— De  Synodis,  n.  5,  t.  \.  p.  575. 

ST.  OPTATUS,  L.  C. — See  the  extracts  given  under  "  Unity" 

LUCIFER  OF  CAGLIARI,  L.  C. — "  Cease,  Constantius,  to  perse 
cute  the  house  of  God.  .  .  .  Proclaim  thyself  a  Christian  ; 

1  Per  traditionem  patrura  secundum  suceessionem  apostolorum. 

SsiBaotfir,  on  /ui?  rsoarspov,  ct/l/l'  dirotiToXiKov  idnv  avr<3v 


270  APOSTOLICITY 

execrate  with  us  the  mob  of  Arians  brought  together  by  the 
devil's  trickery ;  believe  as  we  believe,  we,  who  are,  by  succes 
sion  from  the  blessed  Apostles,  bishops ; '  confess  as  we  and 
they  have  confessed,  the  only  Son  of  God,  and  thus  shalt  thou 
obtain  forgiveness  for  thy  numerous  crimes." — Pro  S.  Athan. 
1.  i.  n.  33  (op.  Gotland,  t.  vi.  p.  169). 

"  It  is  manifest,  Constautius,  that  thou,  who  holdest  not  as 
the  Lord  delivered  to  the  Apostles,  and  the  Apostles  to  the 
bishops,  hast  no  God ;  for  the  Apostles,  seeking  to  manifest 
the  one  divinity  of  Father  and  Son,  said,  Wliosoever  with 
draws  from  His  doctrine,  hath  no  God  /  but  he  that  continueth 
in  His  doctrine,  the  same  hath  the  Father  and  the  Son  (2  John 
x.  9)." — De  non  Conv.  cum  Ilazr.  n.  17  (Gall.  t.  vi.  p.  218). 

"  The  Lord  says  to  blessed  Peter,  Feed  my  lambs,  and 
again,  Feed  my  sheep  :  and  thou,  coming  as  a  wolf,  wiliest 
those  to  play  the  part  of  hirelings  who  are  found  to  have  been 
the  successors  of  blessed  Peter,*  and  whom  by  Jeremias  He 
has  long  ago  promised  to  His  people :  And  I  will  give  you  pas 
tors  according  to  my  own  heart,  and  they  shall  feed  you  (iii. 
15)." — De  non  parcendo  in  Deum  delinq.  n.  15. — Ib.  p.  228. 

ST.  EPHILEM,  G.  C. — "  And  he  set  up  two  pillars  in  the 
porch  of  the  temple  (1  [AL  iii.]  Kings  vii.  21).  The  two  pil 
lars  signify  the  two  worlds,  the  visible  and  the  invisible  : 
both  support  that  dwelling-place  of  all  nations, — the  Church 
of  Christ, — the  spirits,  to  wit,  that  are  sent  to  minister,  and 
the  prophets  and  Apostles,  and  their  successors,  constituted, 
by  divine  appointment,  unto  the  government  of  the  Church." 
— T.  \.p.  2,  Comm.  in  1  (3)  Regn.  p.  459. 

"  These  same  sects  are  to  be  urged  again,  by  requiring  of 
each  to  produce  its  term  of  existence,  as  being  of  older  date 
than  that  of  some  other  sect.  Now,  perhaps,  Manes  will 
claim  the  rights  of  primogeniture ;  but  Bardesanes  was  earlier 
than  he.  And  should  he  proclaim  himself  the  first-born,  yet 
is  he  younger  than  his  predecessor  Marcion.  .  .  .  Next  let 

1  Qui  ex  beatorum  apostolorum  successione  suraus  episcopi. 
8  Vis  eos  qui  successores  extitisse  inveniuntur  beato  Petro. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  271 

them  be  distinctly  asked,  from  whom  they  have  received  the 
imposition  of  hands ;  and  if  from  us  they  received  this,  and 
afterwards  rejected  it,  Truth  has  no  further  question  to  put : 
but  if  they  have  usurped  unto  themselves  the  duties  of  the 
priesthood,  she  has  enough  wherewith  to  confound  and  cover 
them  with  shame.  For  thus  any  one  may  become  a  priest, 
provided  he  but  choose  to  impose  hands  on  his  own  head. 
The  Most  High  having  descended  to  the  top  of  Mount  Sinai, 
laid  His  hand  upon  Moses;  then  Moses  imposed  hands  on 
Aaron :  thus  was  this  custom  brought  down  unto  John,  to 
whom  accordingly  the  Lord  said,  that  the  baptism,  which  He 
asked  for  at  his  hands,  was  a  part  of  justice  ;  that  there  might, 
that  is,  be  no  deviation  from  that  order  which  He  communi 
cated  to  His  own  disciples,  and  which  is  to  this  day  retained 
in  our  Church,  as  transmitted  unto  it  from  them." — T.  ii.  Syr. 
Sermo  xxii.  Con.  Hceres.pp.  487-8. 

"  I  hear  many  Christs  proclaimed ;  one  contemporary  with 
Manes  ;  another  during  the  days  of  Bardesanes  ;  another  born 
in  Marcion's  time  ;  yet  is  it  certain  that  Christ  appeared  dur 
ing  the  life-time  of  the  Apostles.  Now  if  they  whom  I  have 
mentioned  were  Christs,  they  are  undoubtedly  at  variance 
with  each  other;  but  if  there  be  but  one  Christ,  who  has 
been  divided  into  several,  that  same  Christ  utters,  with  a 
mouth  that  is  not  one,  contradictions.  Do  thou,  for  thy  part, 
side  with  Him  who  is  without  change,  always  the  same,  always 
Himself.  There  is  also  something  which  you  will  not  ap 
prove  of,  as  regards  the  dates  when  these  tares  are  said  to 
have  sprung  up.  The  heterodox,  as  they  have  perverted  dog 
mas,  so  have  they  confounded  their  respective  dates :  for  if 
they  have  had  those  dogmas  handed  down  to  them  from  the 
Apostles,  tell  me,  who  is  the  first  in  date  amongst  them  ?  Is 
Arius,  he  who  has  appeared  in  our  own  age  ?  or  Manes,  he 
who  yesterday  was  not  ?  .  .  .  The  Apostles  were  employed 
for  many  years  in  disseminating  Christ's  doctrine ;  others  suc 
ceeded  in  the  same  office ;  the  tares  in  fact  had  not  as  yet 
sprung  up.  .  .  .  The  Church  of  the  Gentiles  was  already  in 


272  APOSTOLICITY 

existence,  after  that  God  its  founder  had  destroyed  the  tem 
ple  of  the  (Jewish)  people  ;  and,  when  utterly  overthrown, 
on  its  ruins  He  built  up  the  Church,  wherein  Marcion  most 
certainly  never  exercised  any  office,  since  even  his  name  was 
not  known ;  nor  was  Manes,  or  Bardesanes,  suffered  to  in 
trude  therein.  From  the  prophets  the  Apostles  received  the 
orthodox  doctrine.  .  .  .  First  of  all  Adam  transmitted  it  to 
Noah ;  from  Noah  it  was  propagated  to  Abraham ;  from  him 
to  Moses  ;  from  Moses  it  descended  to  David ;  and  from  him 
to  the  exiles  under  the  Babylonish  captivity ;  and  from  them 
it  was  conveyed  to  the  Saviour.  Then  came  the  dispersion  of 
the  Jews ;  and  He  rescinded  and  re-established  the  traditions 
of  the  fathers :  then  the  band  of  Apostles  was  removed.  Let 
us  praise  Him  who  preserves  their  traditions ;  Him  who  or 
dered  the  ark  to  be  built ;  who  constructed  the  temple  of  the 
Jews :  and  He  who  effected  all  these  things,  established  the 
holy  Church.  Now  He  who  ordains  the  propagation  of  life, 
and  the  succession  of  all  events ;  He  it  is  who  was  the  author 
of  that  perfectly-ordered  succession  of  prophets  and  of  Apos 
tles,  and  He  will  preserve  it  from  age  to  age  evermore."- -T. 
ii.  Syr.  Scrm.  xxiv.  adv.  Ilceres.  pp.  494-5. 

ST.  GREGORY  OF  NAZIANZUM,  G.  C.— "  Thus,  and  for  these 
reasons,  with  the  suffrage  of  all  the  people,  not  after  the  wick 
ed  fashion  that  lately  has  prevailed,  not  by  bloodshed  and 
tyranny,  but  both  in  an  apostolic  and  spiritual  manner,  he  (St. 
Athanasius)  is  elevated  to  the  throne  of  Mark,  the  successor 
no  less  of  his  piety  than  of  the  government  of  his  see ;'  for  in 
the  latter  he  is  one  of  many  that  have  succeeded  him,  whilst 
in  the  former  he  is  his  immediate  successor,  and  this  is  in 
truth  a  derived  succession.  For  here  is  oneness  of  faith  and 
oneness  of  throne ;  whilst  there  is  an  antagonistic  faith,  and 
an  antagonistic  throne ;  and  the  one  has  the  name,  the  other 
the  reality,  of  succession.  For  he  is  not  the  successor  that 
takes  by  force  the  succession,  but  he  that  is  forced  into  it ; 
nor  is  he  the  successor  who  is  so  contrary  to  law,  but  he  who 
rjrrov  rift  evtie/SetaS  rj  rrfi  itpoEdpiaS 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  273 

has  been  elevated  agreeably  to  law  ;  nor  he  who  holds  an  op 
posite  faith,  but  he  who  is  of  the  same  faith ;  unless  it  be 
that  one  speak  of  such  a  one  as  a  successor,  as  we  say  that  ill 
ness  succeeds  to  health,  darkness  to  light,  the  storm  to  the 
calm,  and  madness  to  soundness  of  intellect." — T.  1,  Oral. 
xxi.  in  S.  Athanas.  p.  377. 

"  What  absurdity !  these  men  (the  Apollinarists)  announce 
to  us  to-day,  wisdom  that  has  been  hidden  since  th»  time  of 
Christ.  This  truly  deserves  our  tears.  For  if  the  faith  took 
its  rise  but  some  thirty  years  ago,  though  it  is  nearly  four 
hundred  years  since  Christ  appeared,  our  gospel  has  been  for 
so  long  a  time  void ;  our  faith  void ;  and  in  vain  have  the 
martyrs  testified ;  in  vain  have  so  great  prelates,  and  so  many, 
presided  over  the  people,  and  grace  is  from  the  verses  (of 
Apollinaris)  and  not  from  faith." — T.  i,  or.  Hi.  ad  Cledonium, 
p.  748. 

ST.  BASIL,  G.  C. — See  the  extracts  given  under  "  Authority." 

"  As  long  as  we  are  branches  abiding  in  the  vine,  bringing 
forth  befitting  fruits  to  Christ,  we  have  God  for  the  husband 
man.  But  if  we  separate  from  that  life-giving  root, — the  faith 
in  Christ, — being  dried  up,  we  are  cast  out  and  burnt ;  and 
the  edifice  of  our  doctrine,  if  our  lives  be  not  what  they  should, 
is  overthrown.  For,  if  we  abide  not  on  the  foundation  of  the 
Apostles,  (thus)  building  up  what  is  commendable,  we  rush 
headlong  down  as  not  having  a  foundation,  and  great  is  our  de 
struction."  '  —  T.  1,  P.  ii.  Comment  in  Esai.  c.  1,  n.  19,  p.  554. 

ST.  PACIAN,  L.  C. — "  For  what  is  that  which  He  says  to  the 
Apostles,  Whatsoever  ye  shall  bind  on  earth  shall  he  hound 
also  in  heaven,  and  whatsoever  ye  shall  loose  on  earth  shall  be 
loosed  also  in  heaven.  Why  this,  if  it  was  not  lawful  for  men 
to  bind  and  loose  ?  Is  it  allowed  to  Apostles  only  ?  Then  to 
them  alone  is  it  allowed  to  baptize  ;  to  them  alone  to  give  the 

1  Writing  to  St.  Ambrose  of  Milan,  he  says,  "Thou  man  of  God,  thou 
receivedest  not,  nor  wert  thou  instructed  by  man  in  the  gospel  of  Christ, 
but  the  Lord  Himself  transferred  thee  from  amongst  earthly  judges,  to  the 
-chair  of  the  Apostles  (erti  rrjv  xaQedpar  TGOY 


274  APOSTOLICITY 

Holy  Ghost ;  and  to  them  alone  to  cleanse  the  sins  of  the  na 
tions  ;  inasmuch  as  all  this  was  given  in  command  to  none  but 
the  Apostles.  But  if,  in  the  same  place,  both  the  loosing  of 
bonds,  and  the  power  of  the  sacrament  are  conferred,  either 
the  whole  has  been  derived  to  us  from  the  model  (form)  and 
power  of  the  Apostles,  or  neither  has  the  former  been  abrogated 
from  the  decrees  (of  God).  7,  he  saith,  have  laid  the  foun 
dation,  and  another  buildeth  thereon  (1  Cor.  iii.  10).  What, 
therefore,  the  doctrine  of  the  Apostles  founded,  that  we  build 
upon.  And  lastly,  bishops  also  are  named  apostles,  as  saith 
Paul  of  Epaphroditus,  My  brother  and  fellow-soldier,  but 
your  apostle  (Philip,  ii.  25).  If,  therefore,  the  power  of 
the  laver,  and  of  the  chrism,  gifts  far  greater,  descended 
thence  to  bishops,  so  also  was  the  right  of  binding  and  of 
loosing,  with  them.  Which,  although  on  account  of  our  sins 
it  be  presumptuous  in  us  to  claim,  yet  God,  who  hath  granted 
unto  bishops  the  name  even  of  His  only  beloved,  will  not  deny 
it  unto  us,  as  His  holy  ones,  and  having  the  chair  of  the 
Apostles."  For  the  context  see  "Penitence."— Ep.  1,  Gal- 
land,  t.  vii.  pp.  258-9. 

"  Pay  attention  to  this  also,  whether  she  (the  Catholic  Church) 
is  not  especially  built  on  the  foundations  of  the  Apostles  and 
prophets,  from  Jesm  Christ  Himself  the  chief  corner-stone. 
If  her  beginning  was  before  thee  ;  if  her  belief  was  before 
thee,  if  she  hath  not  receded  from  her  former  foundations  ;  if 
she  have  not  left  her  home  ;  if  she  have  not  appointed  for  her 
self,  after  separating  from  the  rest  of  the  body,  her  own  pecu 
liar  teachers,  and  her  peculiar  documents  (instruments),  well ; 
but  if  she  hath  made  unreceived  interpretations,  if  she  hath 
invented  some  new  law,  if  she  hath  pronounced  sentence  of 
divorce  and  of  war  against  her  own  body,  then  is  she  mani 
festly  shown  to  have  abandoned  Christ,  and  to  have  placed 
herself  apart  from  the  prophets  and  the  Apostles." — Ib.  Ep. 
iii.  n.  26,  p.  269. 

ST.  EPIPHANIUS,  G.  C. — u  There  came  unto   us  a    certain 
Marcellina,  who  had  been   led  astray  by  these  heretics  (the 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  275 

Carpocratians),  and  she  corrupted  the  faith  of  many  during  the 
days  of  that  Anicetus,  bishop  of  Rome,  who  succeeded  Pius 
and  his  predecessors.     For,  in  Rome,  Peter  and  Paul  were 
the  first  both  Apostles  and  bishops  ;  then  came  Linus,  then 
Cletus,  then  Clement,  the  contemporary  of  Peter  and  Paul, 
of  whom  Paul  makes  mention  in  his  epistle  to  the  Romans 
(Philippians?)     And  let  no  one  wonder  that,  though  he  was 
the  contemporary  of  Peter  and  Paul,  for  he  lived  at  the  same 
time  with  them,  others  received  that   episcopate   from   the 
Apostles.     Whether  it  was  that  while  the  Apostles  were  still 
living  he  received  the  imposition  of  hands  as  a  bishop  (of  the 
episcopate)  '  from  Peter,  and  having  declined  that  office  he  re 
mained  unengaged  ...  or  whether,  after  the  succession  of 
the  Apostles,3  he  was  appointed  by  bishop  Cletus,  we  do  not 
clearly  know.  .  .  .  However  the  succession  of  the  bishops  in 
Rome  was  in  the  following  order.     Peter  and  Paul,  and  Cletus, 
Clement,  Anacletus,  Evaristus,  Alexander,  Xystus,  Telespho- 
rus,  Hyginus,  Pius,  Anicetus,  the  same  named  by  me  above 
as  in  the  list.     And  let  no  one  wonder  that  we  have  gone 
through  each  of   these  matters  ;  for  by  means  of  these  the 
manifest  (truth)  is  for  ever  pointed  out."  3—  T.  1,  adv.  Hceres 
(27)  p.  107. 

"  The  Apostles  preached  not  themselves,  but  Christ  Jesus 
the  Lord.  Hence  there  is  not  a  single  sect,  or  church,  called 
after  the  names  of  the  Apostles.  For  we  never  have  heard  of 
the  Peterists,  or  Paulines,  or  Bartholomews,  or  Thaddreans, 
but,  from  the  first,  one  was  the  preaching  of  all  the  Apostles, 
not  preaching  themselves,  but  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord.  Hence 
too  they  all  confer  one  name  upon  the  Church,  not  their  own, 
but  that  of  their  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  beginning  at  Antioch,  to 
be  called  Christians,  which  is  the  alone  Catholic  Church,4  hav 
ing  naught  else  but  Christ's  (name),  which  is  the  Church  of 


£jii(5KO7tr}$. 

2  Msrd  rrfv  rwv  dito^roXGo 

3  Aid  yap  TO^TGOV  del  TO  datpet  Seinvvrai. 
*  Oirep  ktirlv  fj  navy  KaOohiKi?  E-HH\.rj6ia. 


276  APOSTOLICITY 

Christians  ;  not  the  Church  of  Christs,  but  of  Christians  ;  He 
being  one,  and  they,  from  that  one,  being  called  Christians. 
Besides  this  Church,  and  her  preachers,  all  others  are  not  of 
the  same  character,  being  known  by  means  of  the  name  added 
to  them  of  Manichseans,  and  Simonians,  and  Yalentinians,  and 
Ebionites,  of  which  class  thou  too,  Marcion,  art  one  ;  and  they 
who  have  been  led  astray  by  thee  are  called  by  thy  name,  who 
hast  preached  thyself,  and  not  Christ."  —  Adv.  Hceres.  (42) 
pp.  366-7.  ' 

ST.  AMBROSE,  L.  C.  —  "  Not  without  cause  in  the  midst  of 
the  many  narrow  seas  of  this  world,  does  the  Church  of  the 
Lord  rest  immovable,  as  being  built  upon  the  apostolic  rock, 
and  continue  with  an  unshaken  foundation  against  the  assaults 
of  the  raging  ocean.  It  is  washed,  but  not  moved,  by  the 
waves  ;  and  though  the  elements  of  the  world  are  often  dashed 
and  repelled  with  loud  uproar,  yet  has  it  a  most  secure  harbor 
of  safety  wherein  to  receive  the  distressed."  —  T.  ii.  Ep.  ii. 
Constant  io,  n.  1,  p.  755. 

ST.  PHILASTRIUS,  L.  C.J—  "  There  is  also  a  heresy  called  the 
apocryphal,  or  the  secret,  which  receives  only  the  prophets  and 
the  Apostles,  and  not  the  canonical  writings,  to  wit  the  law 
and  the  prophets,  both  the  Old  and  the  New  Testament.  .  .  . 
It  has  been  ordained  by  the  Apostles  and  their  successors,' 
that  nothing  be  read  in  the  Catholic  Church,  except  the  law, 
and  the  prophets,  and  the  gospels,  &c."  —  De  Hares,  n.  60, 
Galland.  L  vii.  p.  494. 

ST.  JEROME,  L.  C.—  "  Whosoever  thou  art  that  art  a  broacher 
of  new  dogmas,  I  beseech  thee  spare  the  ears  of  Romans  ;  spare 
that  faith  which  was  commended  by  an  Apostle's  voice.  Why, 
at  the  expiration  of  four  hundred  years,  attempt  to  teach  us 
what  we  before  knew  not  I  Why  bring  forward  what  Peter 
and  Paul  would  not  make  known  ?  Until  this  day  the  Chris- 

1  He  designates  St.  Irenaeus  as  6  nandpioS  EiprfvaloS  6  rwv  anodro- 


2  He  was  bishop  of  Brescia.      St.  Augustine  mentions  having  seen  him. 
He  died  in  the  year  387.     The  edition  used  is  that  by  Gallandins,  t.  vii. 

3  Statutum  est  ab  apostolis  et  eor  um  successoribus. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  277 

tian  world  was  without  this  doctrine  (or,  the  world  was  Chris 
tian  without  this  doctrine).  I  will  retain  as  an  old  man  that 
faith  wherein  I  was  as  a  boy  regenerated." — T.  1,  Ep.  Ixxxiv. 
ad  Pammach.  et  Ocean,  n.  9,  col.  526-7. 

"  I  will  lay  before  you  a  brief  and  plain  sentiment  of  my 
mind ; — we  are  to  abide  in  that  Church,  which,  founded  by  the 
Apostles,  endures  even  unto  this  day.1  Whenever  you  hear 
those  who  are  said  to  be  Christ's,  named,  not  after  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  but  after  some  one  else, — as  for  example,  Mar- 

cionites,  Valentin ians,  men  of  the  mountain,  or  of  the  plain, 

know  that  it  is  not  Christ's  Church,  but  the  synagogue  of  anti 
christ.  For  from  this  very  fact  that  they  were  instituted  at  a 
later  period,  they  evince  themselves  to  be  those  whom  the 
Apostle  foretold  were  to  be.  Nor  let  them  feel  satisfied  with 
themselves,  if  they  seem  to  themselves  to  'affirm  what  they  say 
from  portions  of  the  Scriptures,  since  even  the  devil  spoke 
some  things  out  of  the  Scriptures ;  and  the  Scriptures  do  not 
consist  in  being  read,  but  in  being  understood.  Otherwise,  if 
we  adhere  to  the  letter,  we  too  can  make  a  new  dogma  for  our 
selves,  and  assert  that  those  who  have  shoes  to  their  feet,  and 
two  tunics,  are  not  to  be  received  into  the  Church." — T.  ii.  adv. 
Luciferi.  n.  27,  col.  202.  Fcr  the  context  see  "Authority." 
ST.  GAUDENTIUS  OF  BRESCIA,  L.  C. — "  Jesus  therefore  sum 
moned  His  ministers,  the  Apostles,  to  wit,  and  their  successors 
who  are  in  every  church,3  and  says  to  them :  Fill  these  water- 
pots  with  water,  that  is,  Baptize  all  nations  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  teaching  them 

to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you." 

Horn.  ix.  In  illud  nuptice  factce  sunt,  p.  957,  t.  v.  Bill.  Max. 
PP.     See  also  Ibid.  De  Ordin.  Ips.p.  968. 

1  In  ilia  esse  ecclesia  permanendum,  quas  ab  apostolis  fundata  usque  ad 
diem  hanc  durat.     The  councils  of  Nicaea  and  of  Constantinople  both  deno 
minate  their  faith  and  their  Church  "catholic  and  apostolical."    See  the 
extracts  under  "  Unity,"  from  the  Synodic  Epistle  of  Nicsea,  and  from  the 
creed  of  Constantinople,  which  creed,  it  need  scarcely  be  added,  was  received 
and  confirmed  by  every  subsequent  general  council. 

2  Apostolis  videlicet,    et  eorum    successoribus  qui    sunt   per    singulas 
ecclesias. 


278  APOSTOLICITY 

CENTURY    V. 

ST.  AUGUSTINE,  L.  C.— The  following  was  occasioned  by  a 
letter  to  Generosus  from  a  Donatist,  who  pretended  to  have 
been  warned  in  a  vision  by  an  angel  to  induce  Generosus  to 
become  a  Donatist :  "  He  has  written  to  you  that  an  angel  has 
commanded  him  to  recommend  to  you  the  order  of  Christi 
anity  of  your  city,  whereas  you  hold  the  Christianity,  not  of 
your  city  only,  nor  of  Africa  and  the  Africans  only,  but  of 
the  whole  universe,  the  Christianity  which  was  announced  and 
is  announced  to  all  nations.     So  that  it  is  to  them  a  small 
thing,  that  they  are  not  ashamed  to  have  been  cut  off,  and  that 
they  do  not  help  themselves  by  returning  to  the  root  when  it 
is  in  their  power,  unless  they  try  to  cut  off  others  also  with 
themselves,  and  to  prepare  them  like  dry  wood  for  the  fire. 
.  .  Now  if  there  should  have  stood  by  your  side  the  angel 
which  this  man,  with  cunning  vanity  in  our  opinion,  feigns  to 
have  stood  by  him  for  your  sake,  and  should  have  said  those 
very  same  things  to  you  which  this  man  declares  that  he 
recommends  to  you  by  the  command  of  that  angel,  it  would 
behoove  you  to  be  mindful  of  that  sentence  of  the  Apostle,  who 
says,  Though  we,  or  an  angel  from  heaven,  should  preach  a 
Gospel  to  you  besides  that  which  we  have  preached  to  you,  let 
him  be  anathema.    For  it  was  evangelized  to  you  by  the  voice 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  Himself,  that  His  Gospel  shall  be 
preached  to  all  nations,  and  then  shall  the  end  be.    For  it  was 
evangelized  to  you  by  the  prophetic  and  apostolic  letters,  that 
to  Abraham  were  the  promises  made,  and  to  his  seed,  which 
is  Christ,  since  God  said  to  him,  In  thy  seed  shall  all  nations 
be  blessed.     If  an  angel  from  heaven  should  say  to  you  who 
hold  these  promises,  '  Leave  the  Christianity  of  the  universe, 
and  hold  to  that  of  the  party  of  Donatus,  the  details  of  which 
are  explained  to  thee  in  a  letter  of  the  bishop  of  thy  city,'  he 
ought  to  be  anathema,  because  he  would  attempt  to  cut  thee 
off  from  the  whole  and  to  push  thee  down  into  a  party,  and 
to  alienate  thee  from  the  promises  of  God.      For  if  the  order 
of  bishops  succeeding  to  each  other  is  to  be  considered,  how 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  279 

much  more  securely,  and  really  beneficially,  do  we  reckon  from 
Peter  himself,  to  whom,  bearing  a  figure  of  the  Church,  the 
Lord  says,1  Upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  Church,  and  the 
gates  of  hell  shall  not  overcome  it.  For  to  Peter  succeeded 
Linus ;  to  Linus,  Clement  [he  gives  the  whole  succession] ;  to 
Damasus,  Siricius ;  to  Siricius,  Anastasius.  In  this  order  of 
succession  no  Donatist  bishop  appears."  2— T.  ii.  Ep.  liii.  Gen- 
eroso  (Class  %\pp.  179-80. 

aln  the  Catholic  Church  .  .  .  the  agreement  of  peoples  and 
of  nations  keeps  me;  an  authority  begun  with  miracles,  nour 
ished  with  hope,  increased  with  charity,  strengthened  by  anti 
quity,  keeps  me :  the  succession  of  priests  from  the  very  chair 
of  the  Apostle  Peter— to  whom  the  Lord,  after  His  resurrec 
tion,  committed  His  sheep  to  be  fed— down  even  to  the  pre 
sent  bishop,  keeps  me,  &c."  (See  "Authority.")— T.  viii.  contr. 
Ep.  Fund.  Manichazi,  col.  269. 

"Petilianus  (the  Donatist)  said:  'If  you  claim  for  your 
selves  a  chair,  you  assuredly  have  that  which  the  prophet 
David,  the  writer  of  the  Psalms,  proclaimed  to  be  the  chair 
of  pestilence  (Ps.  i.) ;  for  with  you  is  it  justly  left,  seeing 
that  holy  men  cannot  occupy  it.'  Augustine  replied :  '  And 
you  see  not  that  these  are  not  proofs  of  any  sort,  but  idle 
revilings.  This  is  that  of  which  I  spoke  a  little  earlier ;  you 
utter  the  words  of  the  law,  but  against  whom  you  utter  them 
you  care  not ;  as  the  devil  uttered  the  words  of  the  law,  but 
knew  not  Him  to  whom  he  was  addressing  them.  He  wished 
to  cast  down  our  head  who  was  about  to  ascend  on  high ;  but 
you  wish  to  reduce  to  a  small  fragment  the  body  of  that  same 
head,  which  (body)  is  diffused  throughout  the  whole  earth. 
.  .  .  Nay,  if  all  throughout  the  whole  world  were  such  as  you 
most  idly  slander  them,  what  has  the  chair  of  the  Eoman 
Church,  in  which  Peter  sat,  and  in  which  Anastasius  now  sits, 
done  to  thee  ;  or  (the  chair)  of  the  church  of  Jerusalem,  in 

1  Si  enim  ordo  episcoporum  sibi  succedentium  considerandus  est,  quanto 
certius  et  vere  salubriter  ab   ipso   Petro   numeramus,    cui  totius  ecclesise 
figuram  gerenti  Dominus  ait. 

2  In  hoc  ordine  successions  nullus  Donatista  episcopus  inveiritur. 


280  APOSTOLICITY 

which  James  sat,  and  in  which  John  now  sits,  by  which 
(chairs,  or  bishops)  we  are  knit  together  in  Catholic  unity,  and 
from  which  you  have  with  guilty  frenzy  separated.  Why  call 
you  an  apostolic  chair,1  a  duiir  of  pestilence?  If  on  account 
of  men  who,  you  think,  speak  the  law  and  do  it  not,  did  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  on  account  of  the  Pharisees,  of  whom  lie 
says,  For  they  say  and  do  not,  utter  any  insult  against  the 
chair  wherein  they  sat  ?  Did  He  not  commend  that  chair  of 
Moses,  and,  guarding  the  honor  of  their  chair,  blame  them  ? 
For  He  says,  They  sit  on  the  chair  of  Moses  ;  whatsoever  they 
say,  do,  hut  what  they  do,  do  ye  not,  for  they  say  and  do  not 
(St.  Matt,  xxiii.)  If  these  were  your  sentiments,  you  would 
not,  on  account  of  the  men  whom  you  defame,  blaspheme 
against  an  apostolic  chair  with  which  you  communicate  not." 
— T.  ix.  1.  ii.  contr.  Lht.  Peteli.  n.  118,  col.  4:10-11.  See  also 
note  \,p.  78,  under  "Authority" 

ST.  C^ELESTINE  L,  POPE,  L.  C. — He  thus  writes  to  the  council 
assembled  at  Ephesus  in  the  matter  of  Nestorius  :  "  It  is  for 
us  with  united  effort  to  preserve  the  things  that  have  been 
committed  unto  us,  and  which  have  prevailed  unto  this  time 
by  means  of  the  apostolical  succession.'1 — Ep.  xviii.  ad  Synod. 
Eph.es.  n.  2,  p.  3^5 ;  Gotland,  t.  ix.  For  the  context,  see 
"Authority." 

THEODOKKT,  G.  C. — See  towards  the  close  of  the  extract 
given  under  "  Authority  "  p.  97. 

"  We  may  see  each  of  these  predictions  verified  by  the  event. 
For,  in  the  midst  of  such  dangers,  both  the  Apostles  illumi 
nated  the  world,  and  they  who  have  succeeded  them  have 
guarded  the  faith  which  they  received  from  them.  And  the 
depositaries  of  the  martyrs'  bodies,  which  shine  as  stars  in 
every  part  of  earth  and  sea,  testify  to  this,  and  proclaim  the 
truth  of  the  divine  predictions.  For  He  not  only  predicted 
dangers  unto  them,  but  victory  also,  for  Upon  this  rock,  He 

1  Quibus  nos  in  catholica  imitate  connectimur,  et  a  quibus  vos  nefario 
furore  separastis.  Quare  appellas  cathedram  pestilentice  cathedram  apos- 
tolicam  ? 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  281 

said,   will  I  build  my    Church,  &c."— T.  v.   Curat.   Gr&c. 
Afect.  Disp.  xi.  pp.  1008-9. 

YINCENTIUS  OF  LERiNs,  L.  C.— "  This  custom  has  ever  pre 
vailed  in  the  Church,  that  the  more  religious  a  man  was,  the 
more  promptly  did  he  withstand  novel  inventions.  Such  ex 
amples  are  everywhere  plentiful.  But  not  to  be  prolix,  we 
will  select  some  one,  and  this  in  preference  from  the  apostolic 
see,  that  all  men  may  see  more  plainly  than  the  sun's  light, 
with  what  force,  what  zeal,  what  endeavor,  the  blessed  suc 
cession  of  the  blessed  Apostles  ever  defended  the  integrity  of 
religion  once  received."  '  For  continuation,  see  "  Tradition." 
— Adv.  Ilceres.  n.  vi. 

ST.  LEO  I.,  POPE,  L.  C.— "The  Catholic  faith,  which,  the 
Spirit  of  God  instructing  us  through  the  holy  fathers,  we  from 
the  blessed  Apostles  have  learned  and  taught,  will  not  suffer 
either  error."— Ep.  Ixxxix.  ad  Mar  don.  as  given  under 
"Authority."  See  also,  in  the  same  place,  Ep.  xc.  and  Ep. 
xciv. ;  also  the  extracts  given  under  "  Tradition,"  especially 
Ep.  cxxix.  ad  Proter.  Episc.  Alexand. 

COUNCIL  OF  CHALCEDON,  G.  C.— The  following  is  from  the 
synodal  epistle  of  the  fourth  oecumenical  council,  addressed  to 
Pope  Leo :  "  Our  mouth  is  filled  with  gladness,  and  our 
tongue  with  praise  (Ps.  cxxv.)  The  grace  (of  God)  has  fitted 
this  prophecy  as  proper  to  us,  by  whom  the  rectitude  of  true 
religion  has  been  confirmed.  For  what  sublimer  cause  for 
gladness  than  faith  ?  What  more  full  of  joy  unto  exultation 
(the  dance),  than  the  Lord's  knowledge,  which  the  Saviour 
Himself  delivered  to  us  from  above  unto  salvation,  saying, 
Going,  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  teaching  them 
to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you 
(Matt,  xxviii.) ;  which  thou  (Leo),  who  hast  been  appointed 
as  the  voice  of  blessed  Peter  unto  all  men,  hast  preserved 
as  a  golden  chain  brought  down  to  us  by  the  ordinance  of 

1  Beatorum  apostolorum  beata  successio  quanta  vi  semper,  quanto  studio, 
quanta  contentione  defenderit  susceptae  seme]  religionis  mtegritatem. 


282  CATHOLICITY 

Him  who  imposed  it." — Ep.  Synod.  Leoni,  p.  834 ;  Labbe, 
t.  iv. 

ARNOBIUS  JUNIOR,  L.  C. — "  The  Lord  in  His  just  judgment 
will  cut  off  their  neck  (Ps.  cxxviii.)  Let  their  lot  be  shared  by 
the  Pharisees,  and  all  heretics,  who  hate  Swn,  that  is,  who  hate 
the  Church  of  Christ.  Let  tJiem  ~be  as  grass  upon  the  tops  of 
houses,  which  withers  before  it  be  plucked  up.  .  .  .  He  that 
shall  reap  their  words  shall  not  Jill  his  hand  out  of  them,  nor 
they  that  gatJier  the'tr  sheaves,  shall  they  fill  their  bosoms. 
For  of  all  the  holy  ones  that  shall  pass  by,  from  the  Apostles 
even  until  now,  whether  they  who  now  live,  or  who  have 
passed  by,  not  one  has  blessed  them  in  the  name  of  the  Lord. 
And  he  who  has  not  received  a  blessing  from  the  blessed 
Apostle  Peter,  or  from  the  Apostles  or  their  successors,  and  in 
this  state  has  taught  the  people  whom  he  has  deceived,  such 
a  one  incurs  a  curse,  because  he  has  usurped  a  blessing — a 
curse  by  which,  before  he  is  plucked  up,  that  is,  before  he 
dies,  he  withereth  away,  that  is,  while  he  seems  to  live  in  the 
body,  he  is  already  withered  in  the  spirit ;  from  such  we  being 
separate,  guarding  most  perfectly  the  Catholic  faith,  find  life 
everlasting." — Comm.  in  Ps.  cxxviii.  pp.  314-15;  t.  viii. 
BiU.  Max.  8S.  PP. 

"  And  now  even  to  this  day  do  the  sons  of  the  Apostles  sit 
upon  their  chairs,  having  also  themselves  the  power  of  binding 
and  of  loosing.  But  this  has  been  granted  unto  them,  because 
the  Lord  would  not  have  the  synagogue  of  error,  but  chose 
holy  Sion,  the  Church,  to  wit,  of  the  right  faith,  which  He,  in 
His  foreknowledge,  chose  for  His  dwelling-place,  wherein  ia 
God's  rest  for  ever,"  &c.,  as  given  under  "  Authority" 


THE  CHURCH  CATHOLIC,  OR  UNIVERSAL 

SCRIPTURE. 

Malachias  i.  11. — "  From  the  rising  of  the  sun  even  to  the 
going  down,  my  name  is  great  among  the  Gentiles,  and  in 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  283 

every  place  there  is  sacrifice,  and  there  is  offered  to  my  name 
a  clean  oblation :  for  my  name  is  great  among  the  Gentiles, 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosts." 

Matth.  xxiv.  14 — "  And  this  Gospel  of  the  kingdom  shall 
be  preached  in  the  whole  world,  for  a  testimony  to  all  nations, 
and  then  shall  the  consummation  come."  Ibid,  xxviii.  19 — 
"  Going  therefore  teach  ye  all  nations." 

Mark  xvi.  15. — "  Go  ye  into  the  whole  world  and  preach  the 
Gospel  to  every  creature." 

Acts  i.  8. — "  And  you  shall  be  witnesses  unto  me  in  Jeru 
salem,  and  in  all  Judaea  and  Samaria,  and  even  to  the  utter 
most  part  of  the  earth." 

Romans  x.  17,  18. — "  Faith  then  cometh  by  hearing,  and 
hearing  by  the  word  of  God.  But  I  say:  have  they  not 
heard  ?  Yes,  verily,  their  sound  hath  gone  forth  into  all  the 
earth,  and  their  words  unto  the  ends  of  the  world." 


THE   FATHERS. 

If  the  reader  will  look  back  to  the  passages  already  adduced 
to  prove  the  Marks  of  the  Church,  he  will  see  that  several  of 
them,  in  express  words,  speak  of  its  Catholicity.  A  few  more 
authorities,  though  perhaps  not  necessary,  shall  suffice. 

CENTURY    II. 

ST.  IGNATIUS,  G.  C.  —  "  Let  that  be  esteemed  a  sure  eucharist, 
which  is  either  under  the  bishop,  or  him  to  whom  he  may  com 
mit  it.  "Where  the  bishop  is,  there  let  the  multitude  of  believ 
ers  be  ;  even  as  where  Jesus  Christ  is,  there  is  the  Catholic 
Church.1  Apart  from  the  bishop  it  is  neither  lawful  to  bap- 


1}  KaQoXiKr}  kuH'X.rj^ia.  This  is,  I  believe,  the  earliest  instance 
of  this  phrase.  It  occurs  also  in  a  document  written  a  few  years  later  than 
the  letters  of  St.  Ignatius,  viz.,  in  the  introduction  to  the  "  Martyrdom  of 
St.  Poly  >carp  ."  '  '  The  church  of  God  which  dwelleth  in  Smyrna,  to  the 
church  of  God  which  dwelleth  in  Philomelium,  and  all  the  members  (or, 
districts,  TfapoiniaS)  in  every  place  of  the  holy  and  Catholic  Church  (rrf$ 
dyia*,  nai  KofioXiK^S  tnKXr}(5ia.$},  mercy,  peace,  and  love  from  God  the 
Father  and  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  multiplied."  —  De  Martyr.  S.  Polyc. 
Eccles.  Smyrn.  Cotehrius,  t.  ii.  The  date  of  this  piece  is  about  the  year 


284  CATHOLICITY 

tize,  nor  to  hold  an  agape;  but  whatever  he  judges  right,  that 
also  is  well  pleasing  unto  God,  that  all  which  is  done  may  be 
safe  and  sure." — Ep.  ad  Smyrn.  n.  8. 

"  The  bishops,  who  have  their  stations  at  the  utmost  bounds 
of  the  earth,  are  after  the  mind  of  God."— Ep.  ad  Ephes.  n.  3, 
as  given  under  "  Unity" 

ST.  JUSTIN,  L.  C. — Explaining Malach.  i.  10, he  says  :  "Not 
even  now  is  your  (the  Jewish)  race  from  the  rising  to  the 
setting  of  tJw  sun,  but  there  are  nations  in  which  not  even  yet 
one  of  your  race  has  dwelt.  But  there  is  no  race  of  men,— 
whether  of  barbarians  or  of  Greeks,  or,  in  tine,  bearing  any 
other  name,  whether  because  they  live  in  wagons,  or  are  with 
out  a  fixed  habitation,  or  dwell  in  tents  leading  a  pastoral  life 
—among  whom  prayers  and  eucharists  are  not  offered  to  the 
Father  and  Maker  of  the  universe  through  the  name  of  the 
crucilied  Jesus."— Dial  cum  Tnjphone,  n.  177,  p.  210. 

ST.  IREN.EUS,  G.  C.— "  The  Church,  though  spread  over  the 
whole  world,  to  the  earth's  boundaries,  <fcc."— Adv.  Hceres.  L 
iii.  c.  17,  n.  1 — as  given  already  in  the  section  on  "  Unity." 

"When  they  believed  not,  last  of  all  He  sent  His  Son,  He 
sent  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  whom  when  the  wicked  husband 
men  had  slain,  they  cast  Him  out  of  the  vineyard.  Where 
fore  did  the  Lord  God  deliver  it,  now  no  longer  fenced  in, 
but  opened  unto  the  whole  world,  to  other  husbandmen,  who 
give  in  the  fruits  in  their  seasons ;  the  tower  of  election  being 
everywhere  exalted  and  beautiful.  For  everywhere  is  the 

147.  In  the  body  of  the  piece  the  same  phrase  occurs  twice  :  "After  he 
had  done  praying,  having  made  mention  of  all  with  whom  he  had  ever  met, 
great  and  small,  noble  and  obscure,  and  of  the  whole  Catholic  Church 
throughout  the  world."— n.  8.  "He  (Christ)  is  both  the  governor  of  our 
bodies  and  the  shepherd  of  the  Catholic  Church  throughout  the  world."— 
n.  19.  We  meet  also  with  the  same  in  the  acts  of  St.  Pionius  and  others, 
who  suffered  martyrdom  about  the  same  time  as  St.  Polycarp.  "What  art 
thou  called?"  Pionius  replies:  "A  Christian."  Polemon:  "Of  what 
Church  ?  "  Pionius  answers  :  "  Of  the  Catholic.  "—Ruinart.  Act.  Sine.  p. 
128.  So  again,  Ib.  p.  129,  130,  132,  135.  So  also  in  the  acts  of  St.  Achatius 
(A.D.  250),  Ib.  p.  141.  So  also  St.  Fructuosus,  when  about  to  be  martyred, 
exclaims  :  "  It  is  necessary  that  I  bear  in  mind  the  Catholic  Church,  which 
is  spread  from  the  east  even  unto  the  west." — Ib.  p.  222. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  285 

Church  distinctly  visible,  and  everywhere  is  there  a  wine-press 
dug  ;  for  everywhere  are  those  who  receive  the  Spirit."  1 — Adv. 
Hceres.  1.  iv.  c.  36,  p.  278. 

CLEMENT  OF  ALEXANDRIA,  G.  C. — "  The  philosophers  satis 
fied  only  their  peculiar  followers  ;  but  the  word  of  our  Teacher 
was  not  confined  to  Judaea,  as  philosophy  was  to  Greece,  but 
was  diffused  over  the  whole  inhabited  earth ;  convincing  na 
tions  and  villages,  and  whole  cities,  and  households,  and  in 
dividual  hearers,  both  amongst  Greeks  and  barbarians,  and 
bringing  under  not  a  few  of  the  philosophers  themselves  to 
the  truth.  If  any  magistrates  prohibit  the  Greek  philosophy, 
it  vanishes  at  once." — Strom.  1.  vi.  p.  827.  For  continuation, 
see  " Indefectilitity."  See  also  the  extract  under  "  Unity" 
from  Strom.  1.  vi.  p.  899,  where  the  Catholic  Church  is  spoken 
of  as  "  alone  in  excellence,"  &c. 

TERTULLIAN,  L.  C. — "  Men  cry  out  that  the  state  is  beset, 
that  the  Christians  are  in  their  fields,  in  their  forts,  in  their 
islands.  They  mourn,  as  for  a  loss,  that  every  sex,  age,  con 
dition,  and  now  even  rank,  is  going  over  to  this  sect." — Apol. 
n.  Lp.  2. 

"  If  we  wished  to  act  the  avowed  enemy,  not  the  secret 
avenger  only,  would  strength  of  numbers  and  forces  be  want 
ing  to  us  ?  The  Moors  and  the  Marcomans,  and  the  Parthians 
themselves,  or  any  other  people,  however  great,  yet  a  people 
nevertheless  of  one  spot  and  of  their  own  boundaries,  are,  I 
suppose,  more  numerous  than  one  of  the  whole  world !  "We 
are  a  people  of  yesterday,  and  yet  we  have  filled  every  pjace 
belonging  to  you — cities,  islands,  castles,  towns,  assemblies, 
your  very  camp,  your  tribes,  companies,  palace,  senate,  forum ! 
We  leave  you  your  temples  only.  For  what  war  should  we 
not  be  sufficient  and  ready,  even  though  unequal  in  numbers, 
who  so  willingly  are  put  to  death,  if  it  were  not  in  this  reli 
gion  of  ours  more  lawful  to  be  slain  than  to  slay  ?  We  could 
fight  against  you  even  unarmed  and  without  rebelling,  by  only 

1  Ubique  enim  pra?clara  est  ecclesia,  et  ubique  circumfossura  torcular; 
ubique  enim  sunt  qui  suscipiunt  spiritum. 


286  CATHOLICITY 

disagreeing  with  you,  by  the  mere  odium  of  separation.  For 
if  so  large  a  body  of  men  as  we  were  to  break  away  from  you 
into  some  remote  corner  of  the  globe,  surely  the  loss  of  so 
many  citizens,  of  whatever  sort  they  might  be,  would  cover 
your  kingdom  with  shame ;  yea,  and  would  punish  you  by 
their  very  desertion  of  you.  Doubtless  you  would  tremble  at 
your  own  desolation,  at  the  silence  of  all  things,  at  the  death 
like  stupor  of  the  whole  world.  You  would  have  to  seek  whom 
to  govern." — Ib.  n.  37,  p.  30.  See  also  Adv.  Judceos,  n.  7, 
pp.  18S-89.1 

CENTURY  III. 

ORIGEN,  G.  C. — "  And  who  that  goes  back  in  mind  to  Christ 
when  lie  declared :  This  goxpel  shall  be  preached  in  the  whole 
world  for  a  testimony  to  them  and  to  the  nations,  can  help 
being  tilled  with  wonder  when  he  sees  that,  according  to  His 
words,  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  has  been  preached  to  all 
under  heaven,  both  to  Greeks  and  barbarians,  to  the  wise  and 
to  the  foolish  ?  for  the  word  spoken  with  power  has  vanquished 
the  whole  nature  of  man,  and  there  is  not  a  race  of  men 
to  be  seen  that  has  refused  to  receive  the  doctrine  of  Jesus." 
-T.  1,  Contr.  Cels.  I.  \\.  n.  13,  p.  4()0.a 

1  The  term  Catholic  is  applied  to  the  Church  on  two  different  occasions, 
in  his  treatise  De  Prescript  ionibus  :  "  Even  if  they  (the  Apostles)  did  dis 
course  of  certain  things  among  their  household  friends,  so  to  speak,  yet  it  is 
not  to  be  believed  that  they  were  such  things  as  would  bring  in  another  rule 
of  faith,  differing  from  and  contrary  to  that  which  the  Catholic  churches 
published  to  the  world." — n.  26.      See  also  Ib.  n.  30,  given  in  the  section  on 
"  Apostolicity"  where  the  term  Catholic  Church  and  the  Church  of  Rome 
seem  to  be  used  synonymously.     In  his  treatise  Ad  Scapulam,  n.  2,  he 
speaks  of  the  Christians  "as  forming  almost  the  majority  in  every  place;  " 
and  at  the  conclusion  of  the  same  treatise  he  declares,  that  if  the  laws  were 
enforced,  Carthage  would  be  decimated.     Compare  also  Ad  Nationes,  i.  8. 

2  This  assertion  is  somewhat   modified   in   t.   iii.    Comment,   in  Matt, 
(tr.  28)  p.  858,  where  amongst  the  countries  named  as  not  having  received 
the  religion  of  Christ  is  Britain.     Origen  frequently  uses  the  word  Catholic 
in  contradistinction  with  heretic.     "  Adversus  ecclesiasticum  et  catholicum 
litigat." — T.    ii.    Horn.    xiv.   in  Levit.  n.  2,  p.  259.     "  Vulpes,  perversos 
doctores  haereticorum  possumus  intelligere.  .  .  .  Datur  pra?ceptum  doctori- 
bus  cathoUcis  ut  vulpes  arguere  et  reframare  festinent." — T.  iii.  L.  iv.  in 
Cant.  Cant.  p.  92.     He  also  employs  it  as  equivalent  to  ecclesiastical,  as  in 
the  first  example  given,  and  in  the  following  :  "  Si  doctrina  ecclesiastica 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  287 

"  The  churches  of  Christ  are  propagated  throughout  the 
whole  world." — T.  ii.  Horn.  xiii.  in  Num.  col.  \,p.  317.  See 
also  t.  ii.  Select,  in  Psalm,  xlvii.^.  7 ;  i.  iii.  Horn.  iv.  in  EzecJi. 
n.  \,p.  370. 

ST.  CYPRIAN,  L.  C.— "  The  Church  flooded  with  the  light  of 
the  Lord,  puts  forth  her  rays  throughout  the  whole  world."- 
De  Unitate.     See  the  context  under  "  Unity"     Numerous  ex 
amples  of  the  use  of  the  word  "  Catholic "  will  be  found  in 
the  extracts  given  in  the  foregoing  sections. 

CENTURY   IV. 

LACTANTIUS,  L.  C. — "  For  whereas  they  are  called  Phrygians, 
or  Novatians,  &c.,  they  ceased  to  be  Christians,  who,  having 
lost  the  name  of  Christ,  assumed  human  and  extraneous  titles. 
The  Catholic  Church  is,  therefore,  the  only  one  that  retains  the 
true  worship.  .  .  .  But  as  every  sect  of  heretics  thinks  its 
followers  are,  before  all  others,  Christians,  and  its  own  the 
Catholic  Church,  be  it  known,  that  that  is  the  true  (Catholic 
Church)  wherein  is  confession  and  penitence,  which  happily 
heal  the  wounds  and  sins  to  which  the  weakness  of  the  flesh 
is  subject."  ' — Divin.  Inst.  I.  iv.  c.  30.  For  the  context  see 
the  article  on  "Authority" 

ST.  ALEXANDER  OF  ALEXANDRIA,  G.  C. — "  We  acknowledge 
one  and  one  only  Catholic  and  apostolic  Church,  ever  indeed 
incapable  of  being  overthrown,  even  though  the  whole  world 
should  choose  to  war  against  it,  and  which  will  conquer  every 
most  unhallowed  opposition  of  the  heterodox,  the  master  of 
the  household  himself  having  made  us  confident,  through  cry- 
simplex  esset,  et  nullis  intrinsecus  haereticorum  dogmatum  assertionibus 
cingeretur,  non  poterat  tarn  clara,  et  tarn  examinata  videri  fides  nostra. 
Sed  idcirco  doctrinam  catholicam  contradicentium  obsidet  oppugnatio,  ut 
fides  nostra  exercitiis  elimetur." — T.  ii.  Horn.  ix.  in  Num.  p.  296.  And  as 
equivalent  to  the  title  Christian  :  "Ego  vero  quia  opto  esse  ecclesiasticus, 
et  non  ab  heresiarcha  aliquo,  sed  a  Christi  vocabulo  nuncupari." — T.  iii. 
Horn.  xvi.  in  Luc.  p.  950. 

1  Sed  tamen  quia  singuli  quique  coetus  hiereticorum  se  potissimum 
christianos,  et  suara  esse  catholicam  ecclesiam  putant  ;  sciendum  est  illam 
esse  veram,  in  qua  est  confessio  et  poenitentia,  quae  peccata  et  vulnera 
•quibus  subjecta  est  imbecillitas  carnis,  salubriter  curat. 


288  CATHOLICITY 

ing  out,  Have  confidence,  1  have  overcome  the  world"  —  Ep. 
De  Arian.  Hceres.  as  given  under  "Authority" 

EUSEBIUS,  G.  C.  —  "  Thus,  assuredly  by  the  power  and  assist 
ance  of  heaven,  did  the  saving  word,  like  a  ray  of  the  sun,  at 
once  enlighten  the  whole  universe  ;  and  immediately,  accord 
ing  as  is  in  the  divine  Scriptures,  the  sound  of  the  divine 
evangelists  and  Apostles  went  forth  over  the  whole  earth,  and 
their  words  unto  the  end  of  the  world  (Ps.  xviii.  5).  And 
throughout  all  cities  and  villages,  like  a  well-filled  granary, 
most  numerous  and  crowded  churches  were  at  once  assembled." 
—  //.  E.  1.  ii.  c.  3,  j0.  48.  See  also  L.  iv.  c.  7,  et  passim. 

"  The  false  accusations  invented  by  our  Pagan  enemies  quick 
ly  disappeared  self-refuted  ;  whilst  fresh  sects  sprang  up  anew 
upon  sects  ;  the  first  always  passing  away,  and  corrupted,  in  a 
variety  of  ways,  into  other  views  of  many  modes  and  forms. 
But  the  splendor  and  solemnity  and  sincerity  and  liberty  of 
the  Catholic  and  alone  true  Church,1  —  a  Church  always  hold 
ing  uniformly  to  the  same  things,  —  still  went  on  increasing 
and  magnifying."  —  II.  E.  1.  iv.  c.  7.  See  also  De  Laudilus 
Constantini,  cap.  16,  p.  768.  Demonst.  Evang.  I.  vi.  c.  18, 
pp.  289-294,  et  passim. 

"  And  the  works  of  justice  shall  le  peace,  and  justice  shall 
obtain  quietness,  and  security  for  ever,  <fcc.  (Is.  xxxii.  17,  18). 
In  place  of  that  great  and  proud  city  that  has  been  destroyed, 
he  prophesies  that  another  city  was  to  be  built  unto  God,  the 
Catholic  Church  reaching  from  one  end  of  the  earth  to  the 
other,3  and  also  predicts  the  devout  institution  in  it."  —  Com 
ment.  in  lies.  c.  32,  t.  \i.  p.  484.  Nova  Collect.  Montf.* 


1  TrjS  KO-OoAou  Hal  novrjS  aA^Go 

2  'Erfpav  TOO  6>£o5  6v6rr]6^6^ai  noXiv,  rrjv  and  nepdroov  £a>?  nepd- 
TK*V  naboXinrfv  EKKXrjtiiav. 

3  On  the  names  given  to  the  various  sects,  from  their  founders,  or  other 
incidental  causes,  and  on  the  attempts  of  the  sectarians  of  his  day  to  retort 
in  like  manner  on  the  orthodox,  St.  Athanasius  writes  as  follows  :  "  They 
are  called  Arians  instead  of  Christians,  and  have  this  name  as  the  badge  of 
their  irreligion.     Let  them  not  palliate  this  ;  nor,  when  reproached  with  it, 
falsely  retort  it  on  those  who  are  not  as  they  are,  by  designating,  on  their 
parts,  Christians  after  their  teachers,  in  order  that  they  themselves  may 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  289 

JULIUS  FIRMICUS  MATERNUS,  L.  C.1 — "  What  spot  on  earth  is 
there  which  the  name  of  Christ  has  not  taken  possession  of  ? 
Where  the  sun  rises,  and  where  it  sets,  where  the  nortli  is 
raised  on  high,  and  where  the  south  is  depressed,  all  has  been 
filled  with  the  majesty  of  the  adorable  God.  And  though,  in 
certain  regions,  the  dying  limbs  of  idolatry  still  quiver,  yet 
things  are  at  such  a  pass,  that  in  every  Christian  land,  this 
pestilential  evil  will  be  cut  up  by  the  roots." — De  Error. 
Prof.  Rel.  n.  21,  Galland.  t.  v.p.  32. 

ST.  HILARY,  L.  C.— Explaining  St.  Matt.  x.  2,  he  says,  "  The 

thus  seem  to  have  a  title  to  the  name  of  Christians,  nor  be  driven  by  shame 
at  their  disgraceful  designation  to  play  the  fool  thus.  .  .  .  For  never  did 
that  people  take  its  name  from  its  own  bishops,  but  only  from  the  Lord,  on 
whom  also  we  rest  our  faith.  Though  the  blessed  Apostles  were  our 
teachers,  and  were  ministers  of  the  Saviour's  gospel,  we  were  not  named 
after  them,  but  from  Christ  are  we  Christians,  and  from  Him  called  so  ; 
whilst  they  who  have  from  others  the  beginning  of  the  faith  which  they 
affect,  rightly  too  bear  they  their  names,  as  having  become  their  property. 
In  fact,  heretofore,  whilst  we  were  all  both  Christians  and  called  so  after 
Christ,  Marcion  invented  a  heresy  and  was  cast  out,  and  they  who  through 
out  remained  with  him  that  cast  him  forth,  remained  Christians,  whereas 
they  who  followed  Marcion  were  no  longer  called  Christians,  but  Marcionites. 
In  the  same  way  Valentinus,  and  Basilides,  and  Mariichasus,  and  Simon 
Magus,  gave  their  own  names  to  their  followers  .  .  .  whilst  others  are 
called  Cataphrygians,  as  being  from  the  country  of  Phrygia,  and  the  Nova- 
tians  from  Novatus.  .  .  .  Just  in  the  same  way,  consequently,  when 
blessed  Alexander  cast  forth  Arius,  they  who  remained  with  Alexander 
remained  Christians,  'whereas  they  who  went  out  with  Arius  left  behind 
them  to  us  who  were  with  Alexander,  the  Saviour's  name  ;  and  thence 
forward  these  men  have  been  called  Arians.  Behold  then  that,  after  the 
death  of  Alexander  too,  they  who  are  in  communion  with  his  successor, 
Athanasius,  and  with  those  whom  he  communicates  with,  continue  un 
changed  ;  none  of  them  have  taken  his  name,  nor  he  theirs,  but  are  all 
again  in  the  usual  way  called  Christians.  For  although  we  have  a  succes 
sion  of  teachers,  of  whom  we  are  the  disciples,  yet  being  taught  by  them  the 
things  of  Christ,  we  are  not  the  less  on  that  account  Christians,  nor  do  we 
cease  to  be  called  such.  But  they  who  follow  the  heretics,  let  them  have 
never  so  numerous  a  succession,  universally  bear  the  name  of  him  who  first 
broached  the  heresy.  In  fact,  though  Arius  be  dead,  and  many  of  his 
party  have  succeeded  him  .  .  .  they  are  called  Arians.  .  .  .  How  then  are 
they  Christians  who  are  Ariomanites  ("Apeio/narirat :  Ariomaniacs),  not 
Christians  ?  or  how  are  they  of  the  Catholic  Church,  who  have  thrown  off 
the  apostolic  faith,  and  have  become  the  inventors  of  fresh  evils  ?  " — Or. 
i.  contr.  Arian.  n.  2,  3,  t.  i.  pp.  320-1. 

1  A  Sicilian  by  birth  ;  he  published  a  very  learned  treatise  against 
paganism  about  the  year  348.  It  is  in  Gallandius,  t.  v. 


290  CATHOLICITY 

Lord  instructs  them  not  to  meddle  with  the  houses  and  friend 
ships  of  those  who  either  persecute  or  know  not  Christ ;  and 
to  inquire  in  every  city  who  is  worthy  of  their  dwelling  there, 
—that  is,  wheresoever  the  Church  is  and  Christ  the  indweller, — 
and  not  to  pass  anywhere  else,  seeing  that  the  house  is  worthy, 
and  the  host  righteous.  .  .  .  There  would  be  many  Jews, 
whose  affection  for  the  law  would  be  so  great,  that  although, 
through  admiration  of  His  works,  they  had  believed  on  Christ, 
would  still  abide  in  the  works  of  the  law ;  whilst  others,  im 
pelled  by  curiosity  to  spy  the  liberty  which  is  in  Christ,  would 
pretend  to  have  passed  over  from  the  law  to  the  gospels ;  and 
many,  through  a  perverseness  of  understanding,  be  betrayed 
even  into  heresy.  And  because  all  men  of  this  kind,  deceiv 
ing  and  flattering  their  hearers,  state  falsely  that  with  them  is 
Catholic  truth,  therefore  did  He  give  the  above  admonition, 
that  one  that  is  worthy  is  to  be  sought  out  with  whom  to 
dwell ;  but  because,  through  the  deceitfulness  of  words,  the 
ignorant  might  fall  in  with  a  host  of  the  above  description, 
that  house  itself  which  is  called  worthy,  to  wit  the  Church 
which  is  called  Catholic,  is  sedulously  and  carefully  to  be  made 
use  of.1'  —Comment,  in  Matth.  c.  x.  n.  7,  9,  t.  *L,pp.  712-13. 

"  In  truth,  Constantius,  thy  mercy  should  hear  the  voice  of 
those  who  exclaim,  *  I  am  a  Catholic,  I  will  not  be  a  heretic  ; 2 
I  am  a  Christian,  not  an  Arian,  and  better  were  it  for  me  to 
suffer  death  in  this  world,  than  to  violate  the  spotless  virginity 
of  truth,  through  the  dominant  power  of  any  individual.' ' 
Ad  Constant.  August.  Lib.  1,  n.  2,  t.  ii.  p.  536. 

ST.  CYRIL  OF  JERUSALEM,  G.  C. — "  The  faith  which  we  re 
hearse  contains  in  order  the  following  :  i  And  into  one  baptism 
of  repentance  for  the  remission  of  sins,  and  into  one  holy  Ca 
tholic  Church.'  .  .  .  Now  it  is  called  Catholic,  because  it  is 
throughout  the  whole  world,  from  one  end  of  the  earth  to  the 
other;  and  because  it  teaches  universally  (catholically)  and 
completely 3  all  the  doctrines  which  ought  to  come  to  men's 

1  Ecciesia  quae  catholica  dicitur,  caute  et  diligenter  utendum. 

2  Catholicus  sum,  nolo  esse  haereticus. 


OF  THE  CHUKCH.  291 

knowledge  concerning  things  both  visible  and  invisible,  hea 
venly  and  earthly ;  and  because  it  subjugates  unto  godliness 
(or,  to  the  true  religion)  the  whole  race  of  men,  both  gover 
nors  and  governed,  learned  and  unlearned ;  and  because  it  uni 
versally  treats  and  heals  every  sort  of  sins  committed  by  soul 
and  body,  and  possesses  in  itself  every  form  of  virtue  which  is 
named,  both  in  deeds  and  words,  and  every  kind  of  spiritual 
gifts.  And  it  is  rightly  called  Church,  because  it  calls  forth 
and  assembles  together  all  men."  .  .  . 

25.  "  Of  old  the  Psalmist  sung,  In  the  Churchllessye  God 
the  Lord,  from  the  fountains  of  Israel  (Ps.  Ixvii.)  But  since 
the  Jews,  through  their  evil  designs  against  the  Saviour,  have 
been  cast  away  from  grace,  the  Saviour  has  built  out  of  the 
Gentiles  a  second  holy  Church,  the  Church  of  us  Christians, 
concerning  which  He  said  to  Peter,  And  upon  this  rock  I  will 
'build  my  Church,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail 
against  it.  [For  continuation  see  "  Indef edibility  ;"  he  then 
proceeds  :]  Concerning  this  holy  Catholic  Church,  Paul  writes 
to  Timothy,  That  thou  mayest  know  how  thou  oughtest  to  be 
have  thyself  in  the  house  of  God,  which  is  the  Church  of 
the  living  God,  which  is  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth 
(1  Tim.  iii.  15).  But  since  the  name  church  is  used  of  va 
rious  things, — as  also  it  is  written  of  the  multitude  in  the  the 
atre  of  the  Ephesians,  And  when  he  had  said  these  things, 
he  dismissed  the  assembly  (exHXtjfftav)  (Acts  xix.  40),  and 
one  might  properly  and  truly  say  that  there  is  a  church  of 
evil  doers, — I  mean  the  meetings  of  the  heretics,  of  the  Mar- 
cionites  and  Manichees,  and  the  rest, — therefore  has  the  faith 
now  delivered  to  thee,  by  way  of  safeguard,  the  article,  '  And 
into  one,  holy,  Catholic  Church,'  in  order  that  thou  mayest  Hee 
their  foul  meetings,  and  throughout  continue  to  remain  in  the 
holy  Catholic  Church,2  in  which  also  thou  wast  regenerated. 
And,  if  ever  thou  art  sojourning  in  any  city,  inquire  not  sim 
ply  where  the  Lord's  house  is  (for  the  sects  of  the  profane  also 

)  evocatio. 

6e  TTJJ  dyia.  naQoXiKy  kKK\.rj6ia.  did  navrot. 


292  CATHOLICITY 

attempt  to  call  their  own  dens  houses  of  the  Lord),  nor  mere 
ly  where  is  the  church,  but,  where  is  the  Catholic  church  ? 
For  this  is  the  peculiar  name  of  this  holy  (Church)  and 
mother  of  us  all,  which  is  indeed  the  spouse  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  the  only-begotten  Son  of  God."  .  .  . 

27.  "  And  while  the  kings  of  particular  nations  have  bounds 
set  to  their  dominion,  the  holy  Catholic  Church  alone  has  an 
illimitable  sovereignty  over  the  whole  world,  for  God,  as  it  is 
written,  hath  set  her  border  peace  (Ps.  cxlvii.)  But  I  should 
need  many  hours  if  I  wished  to  speak  all  things  which  concern 
her.  In  this  holy  Catholic  Church  receiving  instruction,  and 
behaving  ourselves  well,  we  shall  obtain  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
and  inherit  life  everlasting" — Catech.  xviii.  n.  22-28,  pp.  29-4-8. 

ST.  OPTATUS  OF  MILEVIS,  L.  C. — (Continued  from  the  article 
on  "  Unity") — "  Why  infringe  on  such  a  promise,  so  as  that  the 
broad  expanse  of  kingdom  is  confined  by  you  into  a  kind  of 
prison-house  ?  Why  strive  you  to  throw  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  so  great  an  act  of  love  \  Why  light  you  against  the 
Saviour's  merits  ?  Allow  the  Son  to  possess  what  has  been 
given  Him :  allow  the  Father  to  fulfil  His  promises.  Why 
put  you  up  boundaries  ?  Why  fix  limits  \  Since,  on  the 
part  of  God  tke  Father,  the  whole  earth  was  promised  to  the 
Saviour,  there  is  not  one  thing  in  any  part  of  the  earth  which 
seems  excepted  from  being  His  possession.  The  whole  earth 
with  its  inhabitants  has  been  given ;  the  whole  earth  is  to 
Christ  one  possession.  This  is  proved  by  the  God  who  says, 
I  wiU  give  Thee  the  nations  for  Thine  inheritance,  and  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  Thy  possession.  And  in 
the  seventy-first  psalm  thus  it  is  written  of  the  same  Saviour, 
lie  shaU  rule  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  rivers  unto  the 
ends  of  the  earth.  The  Father  in  giving  makes  no  exception ; 
you  give  an  ounce,  and  try  to  take  away  the  whole  pound. 
And  you  still  strive  to  persuade  men,  that  with  you  only  is  the 
Church ;  robbing  Christ  of  what  He  has  merited ;  denying 
Him  what  the  Father  has  granted.  Oh,  the  ungrateful  and 
foolish  presumption  of  your  party  !  Christ  invites  you  with 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  293 

the  rest  of  men  unto  the  fellowship  of  the  heavenly  kingdom, 
and  exhorts  you  to  be  joint-heirs  ;  and  you  try  to  defraud  Him 
of  the  inheritance  granted  Him  by  the  Father,  by  giving 
Him  a  part  of  Africa,  and  refusing  Him  the  whole  world  be 
stowed  on  Him  by  the  Father.  [He  continues  the  same  mode 
of  argument,  quoting  Ps.  xlix.  1  ;  cxii.  3  ;  cxv.  1,  3  ;  and, 
reasoning  from  them  as  from  the  preceding  texts,  concludes 
thus:]  We  have  therefore  proved  that  that  is  the  Catholic 
Church  which  is  spread  over  the  whole  earth.  We  have  now 
to  commemorate  its  adornments,  and  to  see  where  are  the  five 
marks,  which  by  you  are  propounded  as  six  :  amongst  which 
(marks)  the  chair  is  the  first,  where  unless  a  bishop  sit,  the 
second  gift,  which  is  the  angel,  cannot  be."  '  [For  the  con 
tinuation,  see  "Primacy  of  St.  Peter."]—  De  Schism.  Donat. 
1.  ii.  n.  1,  2. 

ST.  EPHR^M,  SYRUS,  G.  C.—  "  Blessed  be  the  chosen  one, 
who  has  chosen  the  Catholic  Church,  that  holy  lamb  which  the 
devouring  wolf  has  not  consumed.  .  .  .  Give  heed,  therefore, 
to  my  instructions,  as  my  disciples,  and  depart  not  from  the 
Catholic  faith,  which  I  also,  having  received  it  in  my  boyhood, 
have  preserved  immovable  ;  neither  turn  aside  from  it  in  any 
doubt.  And  if  any  one  be  separated,  whoso  goes,  or  turns 
aside,  in  opposition  to  God  and  His  holy  Church,  may  he  be 
forced  down,  breathing  and  living,  into  hell.  .  .  .  And  if  any 
one  be  lifted  up  against  the  Catholic  Church,  may  he  be  smit 
ten  with  leprosy,  like  the  foolish  Giezi."—  T.  ii.  Or.  Test.  S. 


ST.  BASIL,  G.  C.—  (See  the  extract  from  t.  iii.^.  2,  Ep.  204, 
given  under  "  Urnty.")—"  Stand  fast  in  the  faith  ;  look  round 
the  world  and  see  how  small  is  the  part  infected  with  this  dis 
temper,  whilst  all  the  rest  of  the  Church,  which  from  one  end 
of  the  world  to  the  other  has  received  the  Gospel,  abides  in 

1  Inter  quas  cathedra  est  prima,  ubi  nisi  sederit  episcopus,  conjungi  altera 
dos  non  potest,  qui  est  angelus.  Angelus  (the  angel)  according  to  Du  Pin, 
in  loco,  is,  "a  bishop  having  lawful  authority  to  rule  the  Church."  It 
seems  to  me  to  mean  strictly,  mission,  or  jurisdiction,  as  the  term  indeed 
imports. 


29-4  CATHOLICITY 

this  sound  and  unperverted  doctrine."  ' — T.  \\\.p.  2,  Ep.  252,. 
n.  4,  EvcBsenis,  p.  562. 

ST.  PACIAN,  L.  C. — "  Many  resisted  both  the  Lord  Himself 
and  His  Apostles,  nor  could  truth  obtain  belief  except  where 
consent  sprang  from  religious  conviction.  I  have  accordingly 
written  to  you,  my  lord,  not  with  anything  like  a  persuasion 
that  I  can  extort  conviction  from  one  that  does  not  wish  to 
be  convinced,  but  with  the  consciousness  that  I  could  not  deny, 
to  any  one  that  wishes  it,  an  entrance  to  holy  peace ;  which 
peace,  if  it  be  after  your  own  soul  and  heart,  there  ought  to 
be  no  dispute  about  the  name  Catholic.  For  if  it  is  through 
God  that  our  people  obtain  this  name,  the  title  ought  not  to 
be  questioned,  when  a  divine  authority  is  followed  ;  if  through 
man,  it  is  for  you  to  detect  when  the  name  was  usurped." 
Further,  if  the  name  be  a  good  one,  it  cannot  be  the  object  of 
dislike  ;  if  bad,  it  cannot  be  the  subject  of  envy.  I  hear  that 
the  Novatians  are  so  called  after  Novatus,  or  Novatian ;  still 
it  is  the  sect  which  I  blame  in  them,  not  the  name ;  nor  has 
any  one  made  their  mere  name  an  objection  against  Montanus, 
or  the  Phrygians. 

" '  But,  under  the  Apostles,'  you  will  say, '  no  one  was  called 
a  Catholic.'  Grant  this  to  have  been  the  fact ;  or  suppose  it 
to  have  been  so.  When  heresies,  after  the  Apostles'  days, 
arose,  and,  under  divers  names,  strove  to  tear  and  scatter 
piecemeal  the  dove  of  God,  and  His  queen,  did  not  the  apos 
tolic  people  require  a  peculiar  name  whereby  to  distinguish 

1  St.  Basil,  in  his  first  Canonical  Epistle  to  St.  Amphilochius,  t.  iii.  p.  2, 
Ep.  188,  p.  390,  gives  an  explanation  of  the  terms  heresy,  schism,  and  pri 
vate  assemblies  (rtapativvayooyi)),  and  uses,  as  the  generic  name  for  the 
orthodox  Church,  the  Catholic  Church.  So  also  does  St.  Gregory  of  Nyssa 
(t.  ii.  Adv.  Eunom.  1.  ii.  p.  444):  "This  is  our  language,  and  it  is  peculiar 
to  the  Catholic  Church."  St.  Gregory  of  Nazianz,  in  the  document  entitled 
his  Will,  signs  himself,  "Gregory,  bishop  of  the  Catholic  Church  of  Con 
stantinople  ; "  and  the  same  form  is  observed  by  seven  other  bishops  who 
witnessed  the  deed:  thus,  "  Optimus,  bishop  of  the  Catholic  Church  of 
Antioch,"  &c. — T.  i.  in  Appendice. 

3  Si  enim  per  Deum  id  populus  noster  adipiscitur,  nee  interrogandum 
est,  praecedente  auctoritate  divina;  si  per  hominem,  quando  usurpatum, 
detegendum. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  095 

the  unity  of  the  people  that  had  not  been  corrupted,  for  fear 
lest  the  error  of  a  few  might  tear  limb  by  limb  the  unstained 
virgin  of  God?     Was  it  not  beseeming  that  the  principal 
head  should  be  designated  by  a  suitable  title  ?      Suppose  I 
entered,  this  very  day,  into  a  populous  city,  and  found  there 
Marcionites,    Apollinarists,    Cataphrygians,    Nbvatians,    and 
others  of   the  same   sort,  all  calling   themselves   Christians; 
by  what  name  should  I  be  able  to  recognize  the  congregation 
of  my  own  people,  were  it  not  from  its  being  called  Catholic  ? 
Come,  tell  me,  who  bestowed  so  many  names  on  the  other  peo 
ples  ?     Why  have  so  many  cities,  so  many  nations,  each  their 
own  description  ?      The  very  man  who  calls  in  question  the 
name  Catholic,  will  he  be  ignorant  of  the  cause  of  his  own 
name,  if  I  shall  inquire  its  origin  ?     Whence  was  it  delivered 
to  me  ?     Assuredly,  that  which  has  stood  during  so  many  ages 
was  not  borrowed  from  man.      This  name  *  Catholic '  sounds 
not  of  Marcion,  nor  of  Apelles,  nor  of  Montanus,  nor  does  it 
take  heretics  as  its  authors.    Many  things  the  Holy  Spirit  hath 
taught  us,  whom  God  sent  from  heaven  to  the  Apostles  as 
their  Comforter  and  Guide.      Many  things  reason  teaches  us, 
as  Paul  says,  and  honesty,  and,  as  he  says,  nature  herself. 
What !  is  the  authority  derived  from  apostolic  men,  from  the 
first  priests,  from  that  most  blessed  martyr  and  doctor  Cyp 
rian,  of  slight  weight  with  us  ? '      Do  we  wish  to  teach  the 
Teacher?      Are  we  wiser  than  he  was?  and  does  our  flesh- 
burdened  spirit  swell  within  us  against  him,  whose  ennobled 
blood  and  crown  of  glorious  suffering  have  set  him  forth  as  a 
witness  of  the  eternal  God  ?      What  say  you  to  the  numerous 
priests  on  this  same  side,  whom  one  and  the  same  peace  firmly 
united,  throughout  the  whole  world,  with  that  same  Cyprian  ? 
What  to  so  many  aged  bishops,  and  martyrs,  and  confessors  ? 
Say,  if  they  were  not  authorities  enough  for  taking  this  name 
(Catholic),  are  we  sufficient  for  rejecting  it  ?      And  shall  the 

1  Parva  nobis  de  apostolicis  viris,  parva  de  primis  sacerdotibus,  parva  de 
beatissimo  Cypriano  martyre  atque  doctore  currit  auctoritas,  or,  Is  the 
authority  which  flows  to  us  from  apostolic  men,  &c.,  slight  9 


296  CATHOLICITY 

fathers  rather  follow  our  authority  ;  and  the  antiquity  of  saints 
give  way  to  be  amended  (by  us) ;  and  times,  grown  rank  with 
vice,  pluck  out  the  gray  hairs  of  apostolic  age  2  And  yet,  my 
brother,  fret  not  yourself :  Christian  is  my  name,  but  Catholic 
my  surname.  That  names  me,  this  describes  me  ;  by  this  I 
am  approved  ;  by  that  designated.1  And  if  at  last  we  must 
give  an  account  of  the  word  Catholic,  and  express  it,  from 
the  Greek,  by  a  Latin  interpretation,  '  Catholic '  is  '  every 
where  one,' a  or,  as  the  more  learned  think,  '  obedience  in  all ' 
— all  the  commandments  of  God.  .  .  .  Therefore  he  who  is  a 
Catholic,  the  same  is  obedient  to  what  is  right.  lie  who  is 
obedient,  the  same  is  a  Christian,  and  thus  the  Catholic  is  a 
Christian.  Wherefore  our  people,  when  named  Catholic,  are 
separated  by  this  appellation  from  the  heretical  name.  But  if 
also  the  word  Catholic  means  i  everywhere  one,'  as  those  first 
think,  David  indicates  this  very  thing  when  he  says,  The 
queen  stood  in  a  gilded  clothing,  surrounded  with  variety  (Ps. 
xliv.  10),  that  is,  one  amidst  all.  .  .  .  Amidst  all  she  is  one, 
and  one  over  all.  If  thou  askest  the  reason  of  the  name,  it  is 
manifest." — Ep.  i.  n.  2-4;  Galland.  t.  \\\.  pp.  257-8. 

"  On  the  name  Catholic  I  answered  fully  and  with  calmness. 
For  I  said  that  it  mattered  to  neither,  what  the  other  was 
called.  And  if  you  demanded  the  meaning  of  the  name,  I 
said  that,  whatever  it  might  be,  it  was  wonderful,  whether  it 
was  *  one  in  all,'  or  '  one  over  all,'  or  (an  interpretation  which 
I  have  not  mentioned  before)  '  the  king's  son,'  that  is,  the 
Christian  people.  Certainly  too  that  was  no  accessory  name 
which  endured  through  so  many  ages.  And  indeed  I  am  glad 
for  thee,  that  although  thou  mayest  have  preferred  others,  yet 
thou  agreest  that  the  name  attaches  to  us.  What,  should  you 
deny  ?  Nature  would  cry  out.  But  and  if  you  still  have 
doubts,  let  us  hold  our  peace.  We  will  both  be  that  which 
we  shall  be  named,  witness  the  antiquity  of  the  name.  If, 

1  Christianus  mihi  nomen  est,  Catholicus  vero  cognomen.     Illud  me  nun- 
cupat,  istud  ostendit :  hoc  probor,  inde  significor. 
3  Ubique  unum. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  297 

however,  thou  perse verest  in  asking,  beware  lest  that  man  of 
might  exclaim,  Why  askest  thou  my  name,  which  is  Wonder 
ful?  (Judges  xiii.  18).  I  next  added,  that  we  need  not  consi 
der  whence  Catholics  derived  this  name,  because  neither  was 
it  wont  to  be  any  imputation  against  the  Yalentinians,  if  they 
were  called  after  Valentinus  ;  nor  the  Phrygians,  if  from 
Phrygia ;  nor  the  Novatians,  if  after  Novatian.  At  this  you 
are  grievously  excited;  start  as  if  stung;  and  in  your  an 
ger  exclaim,  'Is  it  ever  any  objection  to  that  holy  man 
Cyprian,  if  his  people  have  the  name  Apostaticum,  or  Capito- 
linum,  or  Syndreum?'  Thou  revilest ;  but  see,  I  am  not 
moved.  Have  we  ever  borne  any  such  name !  Ask  a  century, 
brother,  and  all  its  years  in  succession,  whether  this  name  has 
adhered  to  us  ;  whether  the  people  of  Cyprian  have  been  called 
other  than  Catholic  ?  For  myself,  I  never  heard  any  of  these 
your  names.  And  can  a  man  have  a  name,  and  not  know  it  ? 
What  mean  you  then  ?  These  are  not  names,  but  insults.  .  .  . 
Could  I  allow  myself  to  be  angry,  I  too  could  retort  on  you 
with  as  many  names  as  you  will.  You  call  Cyprian  a  saint, 
and  his  people  apostate  !  How  can  this  be  ?  If  the  first-fruit 
be  holy,  so  is  the  lump  also  ;  and  if  the  root  be  holy,  so  are  the 
branches  (Rom.  xi.  16).  Am  I  an  apostate,  or  was  Novatus 
such  ?  Novatus,  I  say,  who  forsook  his  father,  and  abandoned 
the  Church.  .  .  .  Do  you  deny  that  the  Novatians  are  so  called 
after  Novatian  ?  This  will  ever  cling  to  them,  give  them  what 
name  you  will.  Search,  if  you  choose,  whole  annals,  and  trust 
so  many  ages.  You  will  answer, '  Christian.'  But  if  I  ask  the 
genus  of  the  sect,  you  will  not  deny  that  it  is  Novatian.  And 
yet  it  is  not  the  name  of  thy  Novatian  that  I  censure,  and 
which,  in  spite  of  all  my  questioning,  you  hide  with  so  many 
circumlocutions,  and,  if  I  may  so  speak,  in  closed  bosom.  Con 
fess  it  without  deceit.  There  is  no  crime  in  the  name.  .  .  . 
Do  you  envy  me  my  name,  and  yet  shun  your  own  ?  See  what 
shame  must  attach  to  a  cause  which  shrinks  from  its  own 
name." — Ibid.  Ep.  ii.  n.  2,  3,  pp.  259-60. 

ST.  EPIPHANIUS,  G.  C. — "  These  men  dwell  in  a  confined 


298  CATHOLICITY 

tract,  in  Phrygia,  Cilicia,  and  Pamphylia.  What,  then,  is  the 
Church,  which  is  extended  from  one  extremity  of  the  earth  to 
the  other,  cut  off  ;  and  has  not  their  sound  gone  forth  into  all 
the  earth,  and  their  words  unto  the  ends  of  the  world?  (Ps. 
xviii.)  And  was  it  not  said  by  the  Saviour,  Ye  shall  be  wit 
nesses  unto  me,  even  to  the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth  fr  —T. 
i.  Adv.  Ilceres.  (60),  p.  507.  See  also  the  extract,  from  Ib.  p. 
910,  under  "  Tradition." 

"  Each  (party)  had  a  special  designation  for  its  own  church. 
The   successors  of  Peter  (of  Alexandria),  who  held  the  old 
churches,  were  called  the  Catholic  Church ;  whilst  the  follow 
ers  of  Miletus  styled  themselves  the  church  of  the  martyrs."- 
II.  (OS),  p.  719. 

ST.  AMBROSE,  L.  C. — "What  more  plain  than  that  in  this 
place  (Gen.  xlvi.  2),  they  (the  Jews)  are  invited  to  pass  over 
to  the  Church  of  God,  and  they,  who  had  hitherto  been  con 
fined  within  the  narrow  boundaries  of  Judrea,  to  come  to  the 
people  of  God,  which,  assembled  out  of  the  whole  world,  out 
of  all  nations  and  peoples,  is  made  into  a  great  nation  ?  Their 
sound,  in  fine,  has  gone  forth  into  the  whole  world" — T.  i. 
De  Joseph,  c.  xiv.  n.  82,  pp.  509-10. 

ST.  JEROME,  L.  C. — Commenting  on  Is.  liv.  5  :  "  My  re 
deemer,  the  holy  one  of  Israel,  shall  be  called  the  God  of  all 
tlie  earth.  It  is  manifest  that  this  is  not  said  of  Jerusalem, 
which  never  ruled  throughout  the  whole  world ;  but  that  it 
relates  to  the  Church  of  Christ,  whose  inheritance  is  the  pos 
session  of  the  world." — T.  iv.  I.  xv.  in  Is.  col.  631-2.  See  also 
the  extract,  from  T.  ii.  Adv.  Luciferian.  n.  14,  15,  already 
given  under  "  Indefectibility  " 

ST.  J.  CHRYSOSTOM,  G.  C. — "  But  there  are  also  other  proph 
ecies,  which  stretch  along  from  that  time  even  unto  His  com 
ing  ;  which  examine  as  thou  pleasest ;  such  as  this :  /  am  al 
ways  with  you,  even  to  the  consummation  of  the  world  :  and 
this :  Upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  Church,  and  the  gates 
of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it :  and  this  :  And  this  gos 
pel  shall  be  preached  unto  all  the  nations.  .  .  .  And  many 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  299 

others  more  than  these.  Whence,  then,  the  truth  of  this 
prophecy,  if,  that  is,  it  were  a  fiction  ?  How  have  not  the 
gates  of  hell  prevailed  against  the  Church  ?  How  is  Christ 
always  with  us  ?  For  had  not  He  been  with  us,  the  Church 
would  never  have  conquered.  How  has  the  gospel  been  spread 
abroad  in  every  part  of  the  world  ?  .  .  .  There  is  the  whole 
world  which  with  one  consent  has  received  (the  gospel).  But 
there  never  could  have  been  so  great  an  agreement,  had  it  not 
been  the  grace  of  the  Spirit ;  but  the  deceivers  would  quickly 
have  been  detected." — T.  x.  Horn.  vi.  in  1  Ep.  ad  Cor.  n.  3, 
pp.  54,  55.  See  also,  T.  vii.^>.  617,  under  "  Indef edibility" 
In  T.  v.  Expos,  in  Ps.  xliv.  n.  3,  p.  194,  he  enumerates  the 
various  countries  that  had  received  the  gospel. 

CENTURY  v. 

ST.  AUGUSTINE,  L.  C. — "  For  the  Lord  promised,  and  that 
with  an  oath,  to  the  seed  of  Abraham ,  not  the  Komans  only, 
but  all  nations ;  through  which  promise  has  it  already  hap 
pened  that  some  nations,  that  are  not  under  the  Eoman  yoke, 
have  received  the  Gospel,  and  been  united  to  the  Church, 
which  fructifies  and  increases  throughout  the  whole  world. 
For  there  is  room  for  her  increase,  until  that  be  accomplished, 
which,  under  the  figure  of  Solomon,  was  foretold  of  Christ : 
He  shall  rule  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  river  unto  the 
ends  of  the  earth  (Ps.  Ixxi.)  From  the  river ,  to  wit,  where  He 
was  baptized,  because  from  that  time  He  began  to  preach  the 
gospel ;  while  from  sea  to  sea  is  the  whole  world  with  all  its 
nations,  because  the  universe  is  belted  round  by  the  ocean 
(sea).  How,  otherwise,  shall  that  prophecy  be  fulfilled  :  All 
nations  which  Thou  hast  made,  shall  come  and  worship  before 
Thee,  oh  Lord  !  (Ps.  Ixxxv.  9).  For,  not  by  migrating  from 
their  own  lands  shall  they  come,  but  by  believing  in  their  own 
lands.  .  .  .  But  a  prophet  says :  And  they  shall  adore  Him, 
every  man  from  his  own  place,  all  tJie  islands  of  the  Gentiles 
(Sophon.  ii.  11).  All  the  islands,  he  says,  as  though  he  should 
say,  even  all  the  islands,  thereby  showing  that  there  shall  truly 


300  CATHOLICITY 

be  no  part  of  the  world  left  where  the  Church  is  not,1  when 
not  even  an  island  is  left  without  one.  ...  If,  therefore, 
since  the  prophecy  of  truth  cannot  deceive,  it  must  needs 
be,  that  every  nation  soever,  which  God  has  made,  must 
adore  Him,  how  shall  they  adore  Him,  unless  they  in 
voke  Him  ?  But  how  shall  they  invoke,  on  whom  they 
have  not  believed  ?  or,  how  'believe  on  Him  of  whom  they 
have  not  heard?  or,  how  hear  without  a  preacher?  or,  how 
preach,  unless  they  le  sent  ?  For  He  sends  His  angels,  and 
gathers  His  elect  from  the  four  winds,  that  is,  from  the 
whole  universe.  In  those  nations,  therefore,  where  the  Church 
is  not  as  yet,  there  it  must  needs  be,'  though  all  there  must 
not  needs  believe  ;  for  all  the  nations,  not  all  the  individuals  of 
all  the  nations,  have  been  promised  ;  for  all  men  have  not 
faith." — T.  ii.  Class,  iii.  Epist.  Ep.  cxcix.  Ilesychio,  de  fine 
scec.  n.  47,  col.  1136-38. 

"  Be  Thou  exalted,  O  God,  above  the  heavens,  and  Thy 
glory  above  all  the  earth  (7V  Ivi.  6).  Consider,  I  pray  you, 
under  what  folly  the  heretics  are  laboring.  They,  cut  off  from 
union  with  the  Church  of  Christ,  holding  a  part,  and  letting 
go  the  whole,  will  not  communicate  with  the  whole  world, 
over  which  the  glory  of  Christ  is  spread.  But  we  Catholics 
are  in  every  nation,3  because  we  communicate  with  every  land 
wherein  the  glory  of  Christ  is  spread." — T.  iv.  Enarr.  in  Ps. 
Ivi.  n.  13  (al  6),  col.  764. 

"  Let  people  confess  to  Thee,  0  God,  let  all  people  confess  to 
Thee  (Ps.  Ixvi.)  A  heretic  comes  forward,  and  says  :  ;  I  have 
people  in  Africa ; '  and  another,  from  some  other  quarter,  says, 
'  And  I  have  people  in  Galatia.'  Thou  hast  them  in  Africa ; 
he  has  them  in  Galatia :  I  seek  for  a  man  that  has  them  every 
where.  True,  because  you  heard,  Let  people  confess  to  Thee, 
0  God  ;  you  dared  to  exult  at  the  words :  learn  from  the  verse 
that  follows,  that  he  speaks  not  of  a  part,  Let  ALL  people  con- 

1  Hinc  ostendens  quain  nulla  relinquatur  terrarum  ubi  non  sit  ecclesia. 

2  In  quibus  ergo  gentibus  nondum  est  ecclesia,  oportet  lit  sit. 

3  Nos  autem  Catholici  in  omni  terra  sumus. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  301 

fees  to  Thee.  Walk  in  the  way  with  all  nations  ;  walk  in  the 
way  with  all  peoples ;  ye  children  of  peace,  ye  children  of  the 
alone  Catholic  Church ;  walk  in  this  way,  and,  as  you  walk, 
sing." — Hid.  Enarr.  in  Ps.  Ixvi.  n.  6  (al.  4),  col.  940-41. 

"  And  He  shall  rule  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  river 
unto  the  ends  of  the  earth  (Ps.  Ixxi.)  Of  Him  he  had  al 
ready  said,  In  His  days  shall  justice  spring  up,  and  abun 
dance  of  peace,  till  the  moon  be  taken  away  (Ib.)  If  by  the 
word  moon  we  here  rightly  understand  the  Church,  it  follows 
that  he  shows  how  extensively  He  was  to  diffuse  that  Church, 
when  he  added,  And  He  shall  rule  from  sea  to  sea.  For  by 
a  great  sea,  called  the  ocean,  is  the  earth  belted  round.  .  .  . 
Accordingly,  \)j  from  sea  to  sea,  he  declared  that  He,  whose 
name  and  power  were  to  be  preached  throughout  the  whole 
world,  and  to  be  of  mighty  benefit,  would  reign  from  one  end 
of  the  earth  to  the  other.  .  .  .  His  doctrine  ...  is  then  spread 
to  the  boundaries  of  the  earth,  when  the  Gospel  of  the  king 
dom  is  preached  in  the  whole  world,  as  a  testimony  to  all  na 
tions,  and  then  shall  the  end  come." — Ib.  Enarr.  in  Ps.  Ixxi. 
n.  xi.  (al.  8),  col.  1070-1. 

"  In  the  Catholic  Church  .  .  .  finally  the  name  itself  of  the 
Catholic  Church  keeps  me,  a  name  which,  &c."  (see  "  Autho 
rity  ").—T.  viii.  Contr. Ep.  Manichcei Eundam.  col.  269.  See 
also  "  Apostolicity"  It  has  been  already  remarked  that  the 
Catholicity  of  the  Church  is  one  of  the  main  points  urged  in 
the  Collatio  Carthag. 

ST.  PROSPER  OF  AQUITAIN,  L.  C. — "  By  the  dwelling-place 
of  God  is  not  to  be  understood  the  heaven  that  is  seen,  but 
that  Jerusalem  which  is  built  as  a  city,  not  only  in  the  lofti 
ness  of  holy  angels,  but  also  in  the  glory  of  the  whole  Church, 
which,  built  on  Christ,  is,  with  the  supernal  powers,  the  one 
temple  of  God."  ' — In  Ps.  cxxii.  col.  469. 

ST.  CYRIL  OF  ALEXANDRIA,  G.  C. — "  Enlarge  the  place  of 
thy  tent,  &c.  (Is.  liv.  2).  For,  in  its  beginnings,  the  Church  of 

1  Sed  etiam  in  totius  ecclesias  glorificatione,  quae  in  Christo  fundata, 
unum  est  curn  supernis  potestatibus  Dei  templum. 


302  SANCTITY 

Christ  was  straitened,  later  it  is  spread  from  east  to  west,  and 
from  north  to  south,  and  has  reached  unto  every  place." — T.  1, 
I.  ix.  De  Ador.  in  Sp.  et  Ver.  }).  319. 

"  And  all  nations  shall  flow  unto  her,  and  many  people  shall 
go  and  say,  Come,  and  let  us  go  up  to  the  mountain  of  ttie 
Lord,  and  to  the  house  of  the  God  of  Jacob,  and  He  will  teach 
us  His  ways,  and  we  will  walk  therein  (Is.  ii.)  And  that  all 
nations  have  been  gathered  together,  and  have  flowed  together, 
by  means  of  the  faith,  into  the  Church,  will  not  require  many 
words  of  ours  to  prove.  For  the  actual  result  of  events  is  its 
own  witness,  and  a  true  one." — T.  ii.  Comm.  in  Es.  1.  1,  or. 
\\.p.  30. 

THEODORET,  G.  C. — See  the  extract  given  tinder  the  head 
"  Authority"  from  T.  1,  Intei^pr.  in  Ps.  xlvii. 

Commenting  on  Micheas,  c.  iv.  1-3  :  "  Even  unto  the  earth's 
boundaries  has  the  evangelical  and  divine  preaching  reached,  in 
accordance  with  that  prophecy  of  the  Lord  which  is  reported 
in  the  sacred  gospels,  For  the  gospel  shall  be  preached  in  all  na 
tions  as  a  testimony  unto  them.  And  He  gave  it  in  command 
to  the  holy  Apostles,  saying,  Go  teach  all  nations,  &c.  This 
evangelic  and  apostolic  law,  beginning  at  Jerusalem,  as  at  a 
fountain-head,  overspread  the  whole  world.  And  one  may  see 
in  cities,  and  villages,  and  in  the  country,  and  in  the  remotest 
places,  sacred  edifices  distinguished  for  their  beauty  and  vast- 
ness,  even  so  as  to  be  more  remarkable  and  more  conspicuous 
than  the  loftiest  hills."— T7.  ii.^.  1493. 

YINCEXTIUS  OF  LEKINS,  L.  C. — See  the  extracts  given  under 
"  Authority." 

SANCTITY   OF   THE   CHURCH. 


Ephes.  v.  25-27.— "  Christ  also  loved  the  Church,  and  deli 
vered  Himself  up  for  it ;  that  He  might  sanctify  it,  cleansing 
it  by  the  laver  of  water  in  the  word  of  life.  That  He 
might  present  it  to  Himself  a  glorious  Church  not  kaving  spot 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  303 

or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing,  but  that  it  should  be  holy  and 
without  blemish." 

1  Peter  ii.  9. — "  But  you  are  a  chosen  generation,  a  kingly 
priesthood,  a  holy  nation,  a  purchased  people :  that  you  may 
declare  His  virtues,  who  ha-th  called  you  out  of  darkness  into 
His  marvellous  light."—  Of.  Matt.  xiii.  24-50 


THE  FATHEES. 


The  sanctity  of  the  Church  is  deduced  as  a  necessary  conse 
quence  from  the  other  marks  by  which  that  Church  is  distin 
guished.  For,  if  there  be  but  one  Church, — and  that  Catho 
lic,  or  universal, — which  has  received  authority  from  Christ  to 
teach  all  nations  /  an  authority  which,  through  His  promises, 
is  to  endure  all  days,  even  to  the  consummation  of  the  world  / 
it  is  manifest  that  the  doctrines  and  precepts  of  that  Church 
must  be  holy  all  days,  unless  we  can  suppose  God  to  enjoin 
obedience  to  the  teaching  of  a  Church  which,  ceasing  to  be  the 
pillar  and  ground  of  truth,  would  cause  the  gates  of  hell  to 
prevail  against  that  universal  Christendom,  which,  according  to 
the  premises,  is  commanded  to  hear  her,  and  follow  her  faith. 

So  diffuse  are  the  early  fathers,  especially  the  "  Apologists,"  ' 

1  I  will  subjoin  an  extract  from  Tertullian:  "  I  will  fuJly  admit  that  there 
are  some  who  may,  if  any  may,  justly  complain  of  the  unfruitfulness  of 
Christians.  First,  then,  will  be  the  pimps,  the  procurers,  and  their  bath- 
furnishers.  Next,  the  assassins,  the  poisoners,  the  magicians ;  after  them 
the  soothsayers,  the  diviners,  the  astrologers.  To  be  unprofitable  to  these 
is  a  great  profit.  And  yet,  whatever  loss  to  your  finances  come  from  this 
our  sect,  may  be  balanced  by  at  least  some  projection  from  them.  At  what 
price  do  you  value — I  do  not  now  say  those  who  cast  out  devils  from  you — I 
do  not  say  those  who  fall  down  before  the  true  God  in  prayer  for  you  as 
well  as  for  themselves — but  those  of  whom  you  can  have  no  fear  ?  Yet 
here  there  is  a  loss  to  the  state,  great  as  it  is  real,  which  no  one  turneth  to 
look  upon;  here  is  an  injury  to  the  citizens,  which  no  one  weigheth,  when' 
in  our  persons  so  many  righteous  men  are  expended,  when  so  many  inno 
cent  men  are  squandered  away.  For  now  we  call  to  witness  your  own  acts, 
you  who  preside  daily  at  the  trial  of  prisoners,  and  dispose  of  the  charges 
by  your  sentences.  So  many  criminals  are  reckoned  up  by  under  various 
charges  of  guilt.  What  assassin  among  them,  what  cut-purse,  what  sacri 
legious  person,  or  seducer,  or  plunderer  of  bathers,  is  entitled  also  a  Chris 
tian?  In  like  manner  when  the  Christians  are  brought  to  trial  under  their 


304  SANCTITY 

on  this  article  of  the  sanctity  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  in  its 
doctrine,  its  moral  precepts,  and  in  the  lives  of  many  of  the 
faithful ;  so  frequent  even  is  the  mention  of  miraculous  inter 
positions  on  the  part  of  God  in  attestation  of  the  holiness  of 
His  saints  ;  that  to  offer  any  extracts  on  a  point  so  generally 
admitted,  must  be  thought  a  superfluous  labor. 

But,  besides  their  general  testimony  to  the  holiness  of  the 
Christian  faith  and  of  the  Christian  people,  the  fathers,  as  is 
evident  from  many  of  the  preceding  extracts,  admitting  as  they 
did  but  one  true  Church  of  Christ,  proclaimed  it  to  be  the 
common  duty  of  all  men  to  be  in  Catholic  communion  with 
that  Church  ;  they  denied  salvation  to  be  possible  for  any  that 
separated  from  that  communion ;  and  denounced  that  state  of 
separation  as  a  sin  so  heinous,  that  not  even  martyrdom  for 
the  name  of  Christ  could  make  him  a  child  of  God,  who  had 
ceased  to  be  a  child  of  God's  Church. 

To  assist  the  reader,  I  will  collect  together  those  extracts, 
given  in  the  preceding  sections,  which  especially  relate  to  this 
important  subject. 

CENTURY  II. 

ST.  IGNATIUS,  G.  C. — Ep.  ad  Magnes.  n.  5,  given  under 
"  Authority."  Ep.  ad  Trail,  n.  3,  7,  1.  c. 

ST.  IREN^US,  L.  C.— L.  iii.  adv.  Hceres.  c.  xxiv.  n.  I,  p.  223, 
1.  c.  See  also  his  account  of  St.  Poly  carp's  words  to  the  here 
tics  Cerinthus  and  Marcioii,  given  under  "  Apostolicity :" 

CENTURY  in. 

ORIGEN,  G.  C.— T.  ii.  Select,  in  Exod.  p.  123  ;  and  Ibid. 
Horn.  iii.  in  Lib.  Jos.  n.  5,  p.  414,  given  under  "  Unity." 

own  head,  who  even  of  these  is  such  as  all  the  criminals  are  ?  It  is  ever 
from  your  own  people  that  the  poison  is  steaming;  it  is  ever  from  your  own 
people  that  the  mines  are  breathing  sighs;  it  is  ever  on  your  own  people 
that  the  beasts  are  fattened ;  it  is  ever  of  your  people  that  the  masters  of 
the  shows  find  flocks  of  criminals  to  feed.  Xo  Christian  is  there,  except  it 
be  only  as  a  Christian;  or  if  he  be  anything  else,  he  is  forthwith  no  longer 
a  Christian.  We  alone  then  are  innocent?  What  wonder  if  this  be  so  of 
necessity?  Taught  innocence  by  God,  we  both  know  it  perfectly,  as  being 
revealed  by  a  perfect  master,  and  we  keep  it  faithfully,  as  being  committed 
to  us  by  an  observer  that  may  not  be  despised." — Apol.  n.  43-5,  p.  34. 


OF  THE  CHURCH. 

ST.  CYPRIAN,  L.  V.—Ep.  xlix.  ad  Cornel. ;  Ep.  lii.  ad  Anto- 
nian.,  under  "Authority."  Ep.  lii.  ad  Anton.  De  Unitate, 
pp.  398-99,  401,  under  «  Unity?  Ep.  Ixxi.  ad  Quint.  De 
Unitat.p.  397,  under  "  IndefectibiMty?  * 

ANONYM.  DE  EEBAPTISMATE,  L.  C. — De  Rebaptis.  pp.  629- 
30,  inter  Op.  S.  Cypriani,  given  under  "  Authority? 

CENTURY    IV. 

LACTANTIUS,  L.  C.—Divin.  Instit.  1.  iv.  c.  xxx.  under  "  Au 
thority? 

EUSEBIUS,  G.  C. — Comm.  in  Ps.  Ixxxvii.  Montf.  Nov.  Col 
lect,  under  "  Apostolicity? 

ST.  OPTATUS  OF  MILE  vis,  L.  C. — De  Schism.  Donat.  I.  ii.  c. 
1,  given  under  "  Unity? 

ST.  ZENO,  L.  C. — L.  1,  Tract,  de  Pudicit.  n.  1,  given  under 
"  Indefectibility? 

ST.  PACIAN,  L.  C.—Ep.  1,  n.  2-6,  under  "  Authority  ;"  Ep. 
ii.  n.  7,  under  "  Unity;"  Ep.  iii.  under  "Indefectibility? 

ST.  EPIPHANIUS,  G-.  C.— Adv.  Hceres.  (Expos.  Fid.)  under 
"Authority  ;"  adv.  Hceres.  (Ii.),  under  "Indefectibility? 

ST.  AMBROSE,  L.  C.—Hexcem.  1.  iv.  c.  vi.  n.  22,  t.  \,p.  71 ; 
Ib.  in  Ps.  cxviii.  (Lamed)  n.  19;  Ib.  in  Ps.  cxviii.  (TW)  n. 
37-8,  40,  under  "  Authority ;"  Z.  ii.  Zte  Pcm^.  c.  iv.  ra.  24,  t. 
ii.;  Z%?6>s.  ^.  Z^c.  n.  95,  £  1,  under  "  Unity ;"  L.  1,  Zte 
^BC<M«.  T^m^.  &^.  w.  47,  under  «  ^.  (7.  Church? 

GAUDENTIUS  OF  BRESCIA,  L.  C. — Serm.  viii.  Z>6  Lect.  Ev.  p. 
955,  tf.  v.  Bib.  Max.  under  "  Unity? 

ST.  JEROME,  L.  C. — Ep.  xxii.  &<#  Eustoch.  t.  1  ;  ^?.  Ixv.  o<^ 
Princip.  under  "  Unity?  2 

1  Neque  enim  vivere  foris  possunt,  cum  domus  Dei  una  sit,  et  nemini 
salus  esse  nisi  in  ecclesia  possit."— Ep.  iv.  Ed.  Ox.  p.  175.     On  this  St. 
Augustine  says:    "Salus,    inquit,  extra  ecelesiam  non   est.     Quis  negat  ? 
Et  ideo  quaecunque  ipsius  ecclesiae  habentur,  extra  ecelesiam  non  valent  ad 
salutem."— L.  iv.  De  Bap.  contr.  Donat.  n.  24,  col.  237. 

2  Commenting  on  Isaias  liv.  15,  he  says:  " This  we  refer  to  the  Church, 
which  was  gathered  together  by  the  Apostles  out  of  both  peoples,— a  Church 
which  has  neither  spot  nor  wrinkle,  is  free,  and  is  the  mother  of  all  believers 
(mater  omnium  credentium).      To  gather  together  these  proselytes  and 


306  SANCTITY 

CENTURY    V. 

ST.  AUGUSTINE,  L.  C. — L.  ii.  Contr.  Ep.  Parmen.  n.  26, 
Tinder  "  Unity  /"  L.  iii.  6W/\  ^.  Parmen.  n.  27-8,  under 
"  Visibility." 

He  thus  writes  against  tlie  Donatists,  in  his  synodic  epis 
tle  from  the  council  of  Zerta  :  k'  Whoever  is  separated  from 
this  Catholic  Church,  how  laudably  soever  he  may  think  he 
lives,  yet  for  this  crime  only  that  he  is  severed  from  the  unity 
of  Christ,  he  will  not  have  life,  but  the  wrath  of  God  remains 
upon  him."  '  —  Ep.  cxli.  n.  5,  t.  ii.  col.  682. 

•4  In  the  Catholic  Church, — which  is  not  in  Africa  only,  like 
the  party  of  Donatus,  but  is  spread  and  diffused,  according  as 
it  was  promised,  throughout  the  whole  world,  bringing  forth 
fruit,  and  growing  (Coloss.  i.  6),  as  the  Apostle  says, — there 
are  both  good  and  bad.  But  they  who  are  separated  from  it,  as 
long  as  they  remain  in  their  opinion  against  it,  cannot  be  good ; 
for  although  a  kind  of  laudable  conversation  seems  to  show 
forth  some  of  them  as  good,  the  separation  itself  makes  them 
bad,2  the  Lord  saying :  He  who  is  not  with  me  is  against  me, 
and  he  who  gathereth  not  with  me,  scattereth" — Ib.  Ep.  ccviii. 
n.  6,  col.  1177.  So  again,  Tr.  vi.  In  Joann.  n.  12,  t.  iii.  col.  1744. 

"  A  Christian  ought  to  fear  nothing  so  much,  as  to  be  sepa 
rated  from  the  body  of  Christ  (the  Church).  For  if  he  be 
separated  from  the  body  of  Christ,  he  is  not  a  member  of 
Christ ;  if  not  a  member  of  Christ,  he  is  not  quickened  by  His 
Spirit." — Tract,  xxvii.  in  Joan.  n.  6,  col.  1992,  T.  iii. 

"  We  say  that  you  (Donatists)  are  all  guilty  and  wicked, 
not  some  of  you  by  the  crimes  which  amongst  you  are  com 
mitted  by  others  of  you,  and  which  are  reproved  by  some  of 
you ;  but  by  the  crime  of  schism,  from  which  most  heinous 

strangers,  the  Lord  sent  His  disciples,  saying,  Teach  all  nations  to  flee  unto 
the  gospel,  and  to  receive  the  new  law,  that  after  having  been  of  old  the 
indwellers  of  idolatry,  they  may  become  the  inmates  of  the  Church." — L. 
xv.  Comm.  in  Esai.  t.  iv.  col.  640-1. 

1  Hoc  solo  scelere  quod  a  Christi  unitate  disjunctus  sit,  non  habebit 
vitam,  sed  ira  Dei  manet  super  eura. 

2  Boni  esse  non  possunt  .  .  .  malos  eos  facit  ipsa  divisio. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  307 

sacrilege,  not  one  of  you  can  say  that  he  is  innocent,  as  long 
as  he  does  not  communicate  with  the  unity  of  all  nations,  un 
less  he  be  forced  to  say,  that  Christ  has  deceived  us  regarding 
that  Church  which,  beginning  at  Jerusalem,  is  spread  through 
out  all  nations."  '— L.  ii.  Contr.  Litt.  Petil.  n.  221,  col.  453-4, 
T.  xi. 

"  It  is,  indeed,  no  small,  nor  slightly  glorious  comfort  for 
any  one  of  us  if  we  be  accused,  as  the  Church  itself,  by  the 
enemies  of  the  Church.  But  the  defence  of  the  Church  does  not 
consist  in  the  defence  of  those  men  whom  they  (the  Donatists) 
assail  individually  with  false  accusations.  For,  let  Marcelli- 
nus,  Marcellus,  Silvester,  Melchiades  .  .  .  and  others,  against 
w4iom  they  object  what  they  choose  in  defence  of  their  dis 
union,  be  what  you  please,  it  does  not  in  any  way  prejudice 
the  Catholic  Church,  which  is  spread  over  the  whole  world  : 
we  are  in  no  way  crowned  by  their  innocence ;  we  are  in  no 
way  condemned  by  their  iniquity.  If  they  were  good,  they 
were  cleansed  on  the  Catholic  floor  like  corn  ;  if  they  were  bad, 
they  were  crushed  like  straw  on  the  Catholic  floor.  Within 
that  floor  there  may  be  good  and  bad ;  out  of  it,  there  cannot 
be  good."  2— Ib.  De  Unic.  Bap.  Contr.  Petil.  n.  30,  col.  826. 

ST.  PROSPER  OF  AQUITAIN,  L.  C. — In  Ps.  cxxxi.  col.  483  ; 
given  under  "  Indef edibility  " 

ST.  PETER  CHRYSOLOGUS,  L.  C. — He  explains  the  article 
of  the  creed,  /  believe  the  holy  Catholic  Church,  as  follows : 
"  Neither  the  members  are  separated  from  the  head,  nor  is  the 
bride  separated  from  the  bridegroom.  .  .  .  He,  therefore,  be 
lieves  in  God,  who  confesses  in  God  a  holy  Church." — Serin. 
Ivii.  p.  89. 

"  Because  the  Church  is  so  united  to  Christ,  as  to  be  trans 
lated  into  the  whole  glory  of  the  divinity." — Serm.  Iviii.  p.  90. 

1  A  quo  immanissimo  sacrilegio  nemo  vestrum  se  potest  dicere  immunem, 
quamdiu  non  communicat  unitati  omnium  gentium,  nisi  cogatur  dicere  de 
ecclesia  quae  per  omnes  gentes  diffunditur,  incipiens  ab  Jerusalem,  Christum 
fuisse  mentitum. 

2  Intra  istam  aream  boni  et  mali  esse  possunt;  extra  earn  boni  esse  non 
possunt. 


308  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC 

"  A  Church  which  Christ  so  took  unto  Himself  as  to  make 
it  a  partaker  of  His  own  divinity." — Serm.  Ix.  p.  93. 

"  That  thou  mayest  confess  a  Church  the  spouse  of  Christ, 
which  will  abide  in  the  uninterrupted  society  of  Christ."  '— 
Serm.  Ixi.  p.  95. 

"Because  the  Church  is  in  Christ,  and  Christ  is  in  the 
Church:  whoso,  therefore,  acknowledges  a  church,  has  con- 
fessed  that  he  has  believed  on  (or,  in)  the  Church." — Serm. 
Ixii.  p.  97. 


THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 


PROPOSITION    VII. 

The  Church,  above  described,  thus  established,  thus  con 
tinued,  thus  guided,  in  one  uniform,  faith,  is  that  which  is 
termed  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  The  qualities  just 
mentioned,  Unity,  Visibility,  Indefectibility,  Succession,  Uni 
versality,  and  Sanctity,  being  evidently  applicable  to  her. 

ST.  IREN.EUS,  L.  C.a — "  But  as  it  would  take  up  too  much 

1  Ut  confitearis  ecclesiain  Christ i  sponsam  in  perpetua  Christi  societate 
mansurara. 

2  There  is  a  peculiarity  deserving  of  notice,  in  the  language  used  by  St. 
Ignatius  when  addressing  the  Church  of  Rome.     "Ignatius,  which  is  also 
Theophorus,  to  the  Church  which  hath  found  mercy  in  the  majesty  of  the 
Father  most  High,  and  of  Jesus  Christ  his  only  Son,  (to  the  Church)  beloved 
and  enlightened  in  the  will  of  Him  who  willeth  all  things,  which  are  accord 
ing  to  the  love  of  Jesus  Christ  our  God.  and  which  has  foremost  station  (or 
presides)  in  the  place  of  th-e   Romans  (?/r/S  xai    n  ponder  at   tv   roitcp 
Xoopiov*   Pos/naiGor),  all-godly,    all-gracious,    all-blessed,    all-praised,  all- 
prospering,  all-hallowed,  and  having  first  place  in  love  (xal  TtpoKa^nKvrj 
rr/s  ayaitr]5}" — Ep.   ad  Roman.      St.   Ignatius  uses  very  different  lan 
guage  when  speaking  of  the  other  churches.      Thus  Ep.  i. :  "to  the  church 
which  is  in  Ephesus;"  Ep.   ii. :  "to  the  church  which  is  in  Magnesia;" 
and  so  in  all  his  other  epistles. 

*  X&piov:  on  the  various  readings  and  meanings  of  this  word,  see  the 
editors,  as  Cotelerius,  Gallandius,  Jacobson.  in  loco.  The  Vetus  Interpres 
has  "  in  loco  chori  Romanorum,"  a  word  frequently  used  of  the  assembly  of 
the  faithful,  or  of  the  Apostles.  Chevallier  translates,  "  in  the  place  of  the 
region  of  the  Romans;  ^ as  also  Wake,  but  he  ..considers  it  as  signifying  the 
Church  of  the  Romans. 


CHURCH.  309 

space,  in  such  a  volume  as  this,  to  enumerate  the  successions 
of  all  the  churches,  by  pointing  out  that  tradition  which  the 
greatest,  and  most  ancient,  and  universally  known,  Church  of 
Rome — founded  and  constituted  by  the  two  most  glorious 
Apostles  Peter  and  Paul — holds  from  the  Apostles,  and  the 
faith  announced  to  all  men,  which,  through  the  successions  of 
(her)  bishops,  has  come  down  to  us,  we  confound  all  those  who 
in  any  way,  whether  through  self-complacency  or  vain-glory, 
or  blindness  and  evil  opinion,  assemble  otherwise  than  as  be- 
hooveth  them.  For  to  this  Church,  on  account  of  more  power 
ful  principality,  it  is  necessary  that  every  church — that  is, 
those  who  are  on  every  side  faithful — resort,  in  which  (Church), 
always  by  those  who  are  on  every  side,  has  been  preserved  that 
tradition  which  is  from  Apostles." ' — Adv.  Ilceres.  I.  iii.  c.  iii. 
n.  2,  pp.  176-7. 

TERTULLIAN,  L.  C. — "  It  is  agreed  that  they  lived,  not  so 
long  ago,  in  the  reign,  speaking  generally,  of  Antoninus,  and 
that  they  at  first  believed  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  under  the  episcopate  of  the 
blessed  Eleutherius." — De  Prcescrip.  n.  30.  For  context,  see 
"  Apostolicity" 

"  Come,  now  .  .  .  run  over  the  apostolic  churches,  in  which 
the  very  chairs  of  the  Apostles  to  this  very  day  preside  over 
their  own  places.  ...  If  thou  art  near  to  Italy,  thou  hast 
Rome,  whence  we  also  have  an  authority  at  hand.  That 
Church,  how  happy,"  &c.  See  " Apostolicity" — De  Prce- 
script.  n.  36. 

CENTURY     III. 

ST.  CYPRIAN,  L.  C. — "  Moreover,  after  all  this,  having  had  a 
pseudo-bishop  set  up  for  themselves  by  heretics,  they  dare  to 
sail,  and  to  carry  letters,  from  schismatic  and  profane  men,  to 
the  chair  of  Peter,  and  to  the  principal  Church  whence  the 

1  Ad  hanc  enim  ecclesiam  propter  potentiorem  principalitatem  necesse 
est  omnem  convenire  ecclesiam,  hoc  est,  eos  qui  sunt  undique  fideles,  in  qua 
semper  ab  his,  qui  sunt  undique  conservata  est  ea  quae  est  ab  apostolis  tra- 
ditio.  For  remarks  on  this  passage,  see  note  in  loc.  under  "  Primacy  of  St. 
Peter." 


310  THE   ROMAN  CATHOLIC 

unity  of  the  priesthood  took  its  rise  ;  nor  do  they  consider  that 
the  Romans  are  those  (whose  faith  was  praised  in  the  preach 
ing  of  the  Apostle)  to  whom  faithlessness  cannot  have  access."  ' 
-Ep.  Iv.  ad  Cornel,  pp.  182-3. 

CENTURY    IV. 

ST.  OPTATUS  OF  MILEVIS,  L.  C. — Having  established  the 
primacy  of  the  see  of  Rome  (see  "  Primacy  "),  he  says :  "  But 
yon  say  that  yon  have  a  certain  share  in  the  city  of  Rome. 
This  is  a  branch  of  your  error,  shooting  forth  from  falsehood, 
not  from  the  root  of  truth.  In  fact,  if  Macrobius  be  asked 
what  chair  he  fills  in  that  city,  can  he  answer,  '  Peter's  chair  ? ' 
which  I  do  not  know  that  he  even  knows  by  sight,  and  unto 
whose  memorial,  like  a  schismatic,  he  has  not  approached,  act 
ing  in  opposition  to  the  Apostle,  who  says,  Communicating 
w'tth  the  memories  of  the  saints  (Rom.  xii.  13).*  Lo  !  there 
are  the  memorials  of  the  two  Apostles.  Say,  has  he  had 
ingress  to  them  ?  or  has  he  offered  there s  where  it  is  cer 
tain  are  the  memorials  of  the  saints  ?  It  remains,  therefore,  for 
your  colleague,  Macrobius,  to  acknowledge  that  he  sits  in  the 
place  where  once  sat  Encolpius;  and  coiild  Encolpius  bo 
questioned,  he  would  answer,  that  he  sat  where  Bonifacius 
Ballitanus  sat  before  him  ;  and  could  he  be  questioned  next, 
he  would  say,  there,  \vhere  Victor  Gabensis  sat,  he  who  was 
sent  by  your  party  from  Africa,  some  time  back,  to  a  few 
wanderers.  How  is  this,  that  your  party  could  not  have,  in 

1  Ad   Petri  cathedram,   atque  ad  ecclcsiam  principalem,    unde  unitas 
sacerdotalis  exortaest;  nee  cogitare  eos  esse  Romanes  (quorum  fides,  apos- 
tolo  praedicante,  laudata  est)  ad  quos  perfidia  habere  non  possit  accessura. 

2  Communicantes  memoriis  sanctorum.      So  St.  Hilary,   Rufinus,  and 
others. 

3  Obtulit  iUic.     St.  Athanasius  writes  as  follows  of  the  conduct  of  the 
Arians  towards  the  Church  of  Rome:  "From  the  first  they  did  not  even 
spare  Liberius,  the  bishop  of  Rome,  but  extended  their  fury  even  to  those 
there,  and  were  not  struck  with  dread  that  it  is  an  apostolic  throne  (nal 
ot>x  OTI  dnotiToXiKoS  s6n  Op6isoS  ydetiOi/dar),  nor  reverenced  it  as  being 
the  metropolis  of  Romania,  nor  remembered  that  previously  when  writing 
they  had  called  them  apostolic  men." — Hist.  Ar.  ad  Monach.  n.  35,  t.  i, 
p.  288. 


CHURCH. 


the  city  of  Eome,  a  bishop  that  was  one  of  its  citizens  ?     How 
is  it  that  Africans  and  strangers  only  are  well  known  to  have 
succeeded  each  other  in  that  city  ?     Is  not  the  craft  apparent  ? 
the  factiousness,  which  is  the  mother  of  schism  ?     Meanwhile, 
the  cause  of  Victor's  being  sent  from  this  country  —  I  do  not 
say  like  a  stone  cast  into  a  spring,  for  he  could  not  trouble  the 
purity  of  that  Catholic  people  —  but,  because  certain  Africans 
chose  to  fix  their  residence  in  that  city,  and  they  were  known 
to  you  to  have  left  this  country,  they  petitioned  that  some  one 
might  be  sent  to  them  from  this  place,  to  gather  them  into  an 
assembly.     Victor  accordingly  was  sent  :  there  he  was  a  child 
without  a  parent  ...  a  pastor  without  a  flock,  a  bishop  with 
out  a  people.     For  the  few  that,  out  of  forty  churches  (basili 
cas)  and  more,  had  not  a  place  wherein  to  meet,  were  not  to 
be  called  a  flock  or  a  people.     Under  these  circumstances  they 
fenced  round  with  hurdles  a  sort  of  cave  outside  the  city, 
wherein,  at  that  time,  to  hold  their  conventicle,  whence  they 
got  the  name  Montenses.     Wherefore,  as  Claudinus  is  known 
to  have  succeeded  to  Lucianus,  Lucianus  to  Macrobius,  Ma- 
crobius    to  Encolpius,  Encolpius    to    Boniface,   Boniface  to 
Victor,  if  Victor  had  been  asked  where  he  sat,  he  could  neither 
show  that  any  one  was  there  before  him,  nor  point  to  any 
chair  but  the  chair  of  pestilence  (Ps.  i.  1).     For  pestilence 
sends  its  victims,  killed  by  diseases,  to  hell,  and  hell  is  known 
to  have  its  gates,  against  which  gates  we  read  that  Peter  re 
ceived  the  keys  of  safety,  Peter  our  prince  (or,  original),  to 
wit,  to  whom  Christ  said,  To  thee  2  will  give  the  Jceys  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  overcome 
them.1 

5.  Whence  then  is  it  that  you  strive  to  usurp  unto  your 
selves  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  you  who  sacrile 
giously  fight  against  the  chair  of  Peter,2  by  your  presumption 
and  audacity?  [He  pursues  the  argument  at  some  length, 
showing  further  that  there  is  no  prescription  which  can 

1  Non  vincent  eas  (claves). 

2  Qui  contra  cathedram  Petri  .  .  .  sacriJegio  militatis. 


312  THE   ROMAN  CATHOLIC 

justify  a  continuance  in  hereditary  schism,  and  concludes 
his  examination  of  the  first  mark  of  the  Church  as  follows :] 
Since  then  it  is  manifest,  and  clearer  than  the  light,  that  we 
are  in  connection  with  so  many  countless  nations,  and  that  so 
many  provinces  are  in  connection  with  us,  you  now  see  that 
you,  who  are  but  a  portion  of  one  country,  are  by  your  errors 
separated  from  the  Church,  and  in  vain  claim  for  yourselves 
the  designation  of  the  Church  with  its  marks,  which  are 
rather  with  us  than  with  you ;  marks  which  it  is  evident  are 
so  connected  together  and  indivisible,  that  it  is  felt  that 
one  cannot  be  separated  from  the  other.  For  they  are,  indeed, 
reckoned  by  (distinct)  names,  but  they  are  united  in  their 
body  (the  Church)  by  a  single  act  of  the  understanding,  as  are 
the  fingers  in  the  hand,  which  we  see  are  kept  distinct  by  the 
divisions  between  them.  Whence  he  that  holds  one,  must 
needs  hold  all,  as  each  cannot  be  separated  from  the  rest. 
Add  to  this,  that  we  are  in  possession,  not  of  one  (of  these 
marks),  but  we  have  them  as  properly  ours.  Of  the  aforesaid 
marks,  then,  the  chair  is,  as  we  have  said,  the  first,  which  we 
have  proved  is  ours  through  Peter,  and  this  first  mark  carries 
with  it  the  angel  (or  jurisdiction)." — De  Schism.  Donat.  I. 
ii.  n.  4,  0. 

ST.  JULIUS  I.,  POPE,  L.  C. — See  the  extract,  given  under 
" Primacy  of  Successors"  from  his  Ep.  ad  Euseb.  n.  21. 

ST.  EPIPHANIUS,  G.  C. — See  the  extract  from  T.  \.  Adv. 
Ilceres.  xxvii.  p.  107,  under  "  Apostolicity" 

ST.  AMBROSE,  L.  C. — For  the  preceding  part  of  the  follow 
ing  extract,  see  "  Discipline  of  the  Secret" 

"  He  who  had  experienced  the  protection  of  the  heavenly 
mystery,  whilst  folded  in  the  linen  cloth,  to  be  so  powerful, 
how  great  did  he  not  think  it  would  be  if  he  received  it  with 
in  his  mouth,  and  enclosed  it  within  the  inmost  recesses  of 
his  breast?  How  much  more  effectual  did  he  not  think  that, 
which  had  aided  him  so  well  when  hidden  within  that  cloth, 
would  be  when  infused  within  him  ?  But  he  was  not  so  eager 
as  to  cease  to  be  cautious.  He  called  the  bishop  to  him,  and 


CHURCH.  313 

not  accounting  any  grace  true  which  was  not  of  the  true 
faith,  he  inquired  of  him  whether  he  agreed  with  (or,  assem 
bled  with)  the  Catholic  bishops,  that  is,  with  the  Koman 
Church  ? '  And  it  happened  that  in  that  spot,  in  the  midst  of 
the  schism  of  that  country,  there  was  a  Church.  For  Lucifer 
had  then  separated  himself  from  our  communion,  and  al 
though  he  had  been  banished  for  his  faith,  and  had  left  heirs 
of  his  own  faith,  yet  Satyrus  did  not  think  that  faith  is  (to  be 
found)  in  schism.  For  although  they  might  retain  their  faith 
towards  God,  yet  did  they  not  retain  it  towards  God's  Church,3 
whose  members,  like  limbs,  they  suffered  to  be  divided  and 
lacerated.  For  as  Christ  suffered  for  the  sake  of  the  Church, 
and  the  Church  is  Christ's  body,  faith  does  not  seem  to  be 
shown  to  Christ  by  those,  by  whom  His  suffering  is  made 
void,  and  His  body  is  separated." — T.  ii.  I.  1,  De  Excessu  Fra- 
tris,  n.  4:7. 

COUNCIL  OF  NIOEA,  G.  C. — "  Let  the  ancient  customs  be 
preserved,  which  are  in  Egypt  and  Libya,  and  Pentapolis,  by 
which  the  bishop  of  Alexandria  has  authority  over  all  those 
places ;  seeing  that  this  is  also  customary  to  the  bishop  of 
Rome." — Condi.  Niccen.  can.  vi.  col.  32,  Labb.  t.  ii.3 

COUNCIL  OF  SARDICA,  G.  C. — In  the  year  347,  this  council, 
which,  by  some,  is  considered  as  an  appendix  to  the  council  of 
Nicaea,  decreed  that,  "  If  any  bishop  thinks  that  he  has  been 
in  any  cause  misjudged,  and  imagines  that  he  has  not  a  bad, 
but  a  good  cause,  in  order  that  the  judgment  may  be  renewed, 
if  ft  seem  good  to  your  love,  let  us  honor  the  memory  of  the 
Apostle  Peter,  and  let  those  who  have  judged  the  cause  write 
to  Julius,  bishop  of  Rome,  that,  by  the  neighboring  bishops 
of  the  province,  the  judgment  may  be  renewed,  and  he  fur- 

1  Percontatusque  est  ex  eo  utrumnam  cum  episcopis  Catholicis,  hoc  est, 
cum  Romana  ecclesia  conveniret. 

2  Erga  Dei  ecclesiara  non  tenebant. 

3  It  is  well  known  that  the  legates  of  St.  Leo  quoted  this  canon  as  fol 
lows:  ''The  Church  of  Rome  has  always  had  the  primacy,  therefore  also 
Egypt  has  it,  so  that  the  bishop  of  Alexandria  has  authority  over  all,  seeing 
that  this  is  also  customary  to  the  bishop  of  Rome." — Labbe,  t.  iv.  col.  811. 


314  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC 

nish  judges."  '  —  Can.  iii.  Can.  Sardic.  col.  630,  t.  ii.  Labb. 
See  also  Ib.  Can.  v. 

COUNCIL  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE,  G.  C.  —  "  The  bishop  of  Con 
stantinople  shall  have  the  primacy  of  honor  after  the  bishop 
of  Rome,  because  that  Constantinople  is  new  Rome." 

ST.  JEROME,  L.  C.  —  "  I  have  thought  that  I  ought  to  consult 
the  chair  of  Peter,  and  the  faith  that  was  commended  by  the 
mouth  of  the  Apostle,  seeking  now  the  -food  of  my  soul  from 
that  place  where,  in  other  days,  I  received  the  robe  of  Christ. 
.  .  .  Following  no  chief  (none  first)  but  Christ,  I  am  joined 
in  communion  with  your  Holiness,  that  is,  with  the  chair  of 
Peter.  Upon  that  rock  I  know  that  the  Church  is  built. 
Whoever  eats  the  lamb  out  of  this  house  is  profane.  If  any 
be  not  in  the  ark  of  Xoah,  he  will  perish  whilst  the  deluge 
prevails.  .  .  .  Whosoever  gathereth  not  with  Thee,  scattereth, 
that  is,  whosoever  is  not  of  Christ,  is  of  Antichrist."  —  T.  1, 
Ep.  xv.  ad  Damns,  n.  1,  2,  col.  37-8.  For  the  context,  see 
"  Primacy  of  the  successors  of  St.  Peter." 

"  I  ever  bear  in  mind  the  Roman  faith,"  &c.,  as  given  under 
"  Tradition." 

"  And  because  I  am  afraid,  yea  have  by  report  learnt,  that 
in  certain  places  the  venomous  plants  even  yet  live  and  put 
forth  shoots,  I  think,  in  the  pious  affection  of  my  love,  that  I 
ought  to  give  you  this  warning,  that  you  hold  fast  the  faith  of 
holy  Innocent,  who  is  both  the  successor  and  the  son  of  the 
afore-named  man  (Anastasius),  and  of  the  apostolic  chair;5 
nor,  however  wise  and  shrewd  you  may  seem  to  yourself,  re 
ceive  any  strange  doctrine."  —  T.  1,  Ep.  cxxx.  ad  Demetri. 
n.  16,  col.  986. 

"  Would  you  know,  O  Paula  and  Eustochium,  in  what  way 
the  Apostle  distinguished  each  province  by  its  peculiar  char 
acteristics  ?  Even  to  this  day  do  the  same  imprints  both  of 
virtues  and  of  vices  remain.  Of  the  Roman  people  the  faith 


,  persons  to  take  cognizance  of  the  case. 
3  Illud  te  .  .  .  promonendum  puto,  ut  sancti  Innocentii,  qui  apostolic® 
cathedra?,  et  supradicti  viri  successor  et  films  est,  teneas  fidera. 


CHURCH.  315 

is  commended.  Where  besides,  with  such  zeal  and  numbers, 
does  such  a  concourse  now  to  the  churches,  or  the  tombs  of 
the  martyrs  ?  Where  does  the  *  Amen '  so  re-echo  like  the 
thunder  of  heaven,  and  the  deserted  temples  of  the  idols 
shake,  as  there?  Not  that  the  Eomans  have  any  other  faith 
than  that  which  all  the  churches  of  Christ  have,  but  that  hi 
them  is  greater  devotion,  and  simple  readiness  to  believe."  ' — 
T.  vii.  Procem.  ad  L  ii.  Comm.  ad  Galat.  col.  427. 

CENTURY   V. 

ST.  INNOCENT  L,  POPE,  L.  C.2 — "  Though,  dearest  brother, 
agreeably  to  the  worth  and  honor  of  the  priesthood,  where 
with  you  are  eminently  distinguished,  you  are  acquainted 
with  all  the  maxims  of  life  and  doctrine  contained  in  the  ec 
clesiastical  law,  neither  is  there  anything  which  you  have  not 
gathered  from  your  sacred  reading,  .  .  .  yet,  seeing  that  you 
have  earnestly  requested  to  be  made  acquainted  with  the  pat 
tern,  and  authority  of  the  Roman  Church,3  I  have,  from  my 
profound  respect  for  your  wish,  sent  you  digested  regulations 
of  life,  and  the  approved  of  customs,  whereby  the  people  who 
compose  the  churches  of  your  country  may  perceive,  by  what 
things  and  rules,  the  life  of  Christians,  each  according  to  his 
own  profession,  ought  to  be  restrained;  and  also  what  dis 
cipline  is  observed  in  the  Church  of  the  city  of  Rome.  It 
will  be  for  your  friendliness  diligently  to  make  them  known 
throughout  the  neighboring  people,  and  to  communicate  to 
our  fellow-priests  who  preside  over  their  respective  churches 
in  those  countries,  this  book  of  rules,  as  an  instructor  and  a 
monitor,  that  they  may  both  be  acquainted  with  our  customs,- 
and,  by  sedulous  teaching,  form,  in  accordance  with  the  faith, 
the  manners  of  those  who  flock  unto  them.  Let  us,  there- 

1  Non  quod  aliam  habeant  fidem  Romani,  nisi  hanc  quam  omnes  Christi 
ecclesias;  sed  quod  devotio  in  eis  major  sit,  et  simplicitas  ad  credendum. 

2  He  succeeded  Anastasius  I.   in  the  year  402,  and  died  in  417.     The 
edition  used  is  that  given  by  Gallandius,  t.  viii.  after  Constant. 

3  Ecclesiae  Romanae  normam  atque  auctoritatem.     One  very  old  manu 
script  has  "normam  ad  auctoritatem,"  which  increases  the  emphasis  of  the 
passage.     See  Gallandius,  not.  in  loco. 


316  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC 

fore,  begin,  with  the  help  of  the  holy  Apostle  Peter,1  through 
whom  both  the  apostleship  and  the  episcopate  took  their  rise 
in  Christ."—^,  ii.  ad  Victric.  n.  1,  2,  OaUand.  t.  viii.jp.  546. 

"  An  exceeding  anxiety  has  often  kept  me  in  fear  about  the 
dissensions  and  schism  of  the  churches  in  Spain,  which  report 
loudly  declares  are  daily  spreading  and  advancing  with  more 
rapid  strides  :  the  needful  time  has  now  come  wherein  it  is  not 
possible  any  longer  to  defer  the  much-required  correction,  and 
wherein  a  suitable  remedy  must  be  provided.  For  our  bro 
ther,  Hilary  my  fellow-bishop,  and  Elpidius,  presbyter,  partly 
moved  by  the  love  of  unity,  partly  influenced,  as  they  ought 
to  be,  by  the  ruinous  evils  under  which  your  province  labors, 
have  journeyed  to  the  apostolic  see  ;  and,  in  the  very  bosom  of 
faith,  have,  with  sorrow  and  lamentation,  described  how  peace 
has  been  violated  within  your  province." — Ibid.  Ep.  iii.  n.  \,p. 
551.  See  also  a  remarkable  passage  from  this  pontiff's  letter 
to  Decentius,  given  under  "  Tradition" 

ST.  AUGUSTINE,  L.  C.— "  The  Novatians,  Arians,  Patripas- 
sionists  ...  do  not,  as  you  remark,  « communicate  with  us.' 
But  wherever  they  are,  there  is  the  Catholic  Church,  as  it  is  in 

1  Adjuvante  sancto  apostolo  Petro.  The  council  of  Milevis,  in  416,  com 
posed  of  sixty-one  bishops,  amongst  whom  was  St.  Augustine,  thus  ad 
dressed  St.  Innocent,  on  occasion  of  the  Pelagian  heresy:  "Since  the  Lord 
by  the  special  gift  of  His  grace  has  placed  you  in  the  apostolic  see,  and  has 
furnished  these  our  times  with  such  a  one,  that  the  guilt  of  negligence 
would  justly  be  ascribed  to  us,  if  we  omitted  to  name  to  your  reverence  the 
things  that  are  to  be  suggested  for  the  good  of  the  Church,  rather  than  that 
it  would  be  possible  for  you  either  to  receive  those  suggestions  disdainfully, 
or  negligently;  we  beseech  you  that  you  would  vouchsafe  to  apply  your 
pastoral  diligence  to  the  great  dangers  of  the  infirm  members  of  Christ. 
For  a  new  heresy,  and  one  exceedingly  pernicious,  that  of  the  enemies  of  the 
grace  of  Christ,  is  endeavoring  to  rise  up  ...  But  we  are  of  opinion  (the 
mercy  of  our  Lord  and  God  Jesus  Christ  aiding  you,  He  who  vouchsafes 
both  to  guide  you  in  your  counsels  and  to  hear  your  prayers)  that  they  will 
more  easily  yield  to  the  authority  of  your  holiness,  which  is  derived  from 
the  clear  light  of  the  Scriptures  (auctoritati  sanctitatis  tu»  de  claro  Scrip- 
turarum  lumine  deproraptaj  .  .  .  facilius  .  .  .  cessuros)."  For  the  reply  of 
St.  Innocent,  see  Ep.  xxx.  ad  Condi.  Milev.  beginning:  "Amongst 'the 
other  cares,"  given  under  "  Primacy  of  the  successors  of  St.  Peter."  It 
may  be  remarked  that  the  Benedictine  Edition  of  St.  Augustine,  t.  ii.  Ep. 
elxxvi.  col.  928,  instead  of  "de  claro  Scripturarum  lumine,"  reads  "  de 
sanctarum  Scripturarum  auctoritate." 


CHURCH.  317 

Africa,  where  also  you  (Donatists)  are ;  but  not  wheresoever 
the  Catholic  Church  is,  are  either  you  or  any  other  of  the 
various  heresies.  Whence  it  is  apparent,  which  is  the  tree 
that  in  its  abounding  fruitfulness  stretches  out  its  branches 
over  the  whole  earth,  and  which  are  the  broken  branches  that 
have  no  life  from  the  root,  and  are  lying  and  withering  each 
on  its  own  ground." — T.  ix.  I.  iv.  Contr.  Crescen.  n.  75, 
col.  794-5. 

"  The  Christian  religion  is  to  be  held  by  us,  and  the  commu 
nion  of  that  Church,  which  is  Catholic,  and  is  called  Catholic, 
not  only  by  its  own  members,  but  also  by  all  its  adversaries.1 

1  Tenenda  e*t  nobis  Christiana  religio,  et  ejus  ecclesias  communicatio, 
quae  catholica  est,  et  catholica  nominatur,  non  solum  a  suis,  verura  etiam  ab 
omnibus  inimicis.  The  following  extracts  are  taken  entirely  from  one 
volume  only  of  St.  Augustine's  works,  and  will  furnish  a  specimen  of  his 
usual  manner  of  speaking  of  the  Church  of  Rome:  "  He  could  afford  not  to 
heed  the  conspiring  multitude  of  his  enemies,  whereas  he  saw  himself  united 
by  letters  of  communion  both  with  the  Roman  Church,  in  which  the  primacy 
(principality)  of  the  (or  an)  apostolic  chair  has  always  prevailed — and  with 
the  rest  of  the  world — whence  also  the  gospel  came  to  Africa  itself, — 
where  he  would  be  ready  to  plead  his  cause  if  his  adversaries  should  attempt 
to  alienate  those  churches  from  him." — T.  ii.  Ep.  xliii.  Gloria  et  cceteris,  n. 
7,  col.  136.  "They  (the  Donatists)  would  still  have  something  to  say,  viz., 
that  they  had  suffered  from  evil  judges  (at  Rome);  which  complaint  is  that 
of  all  evil  litigants,  even  when  they  have  been  vanquished  by  the  most  evi 
dent  truth:  as  if  to  this  it  might  not  be  said  to  them,  and  mostly  justly 
said,  '  Well,  let  us  suppose  that  those  bishops  who  passed  judgment  at  Rome 
were  not  good  judges;  there  still  remained  a  plenary  council  of  the  univer 
sal  Church,  where  even  with  the  judges  themselves  the  cause  might  be  agi 
tated,  that  their  sentence,  if  they  should  be  convicted  of  having  passed  a 
bad  judgment,  might  be  quashed.' " — Ibid.  n.  19,  col.  144.  "  Whereas  the 
authors,  or  certainly  the  most  violent  and  notorious  abettors  of  that  heresy, 
were  Pelagius  and  Ccelestius ;  they,  by  the  vigilr.nce  of  councils  of  bishops, 
in  the  help  of  that  Saviour  who  protects  His  own  Church,  as  also  by  two 
venerable  prelates  of  the  apostolic  see,  Pope  Innocent  and  Pope  Zozimus, 
were,  unless  being  amended  they  also  did  penitence,  condemned  by  the 
whole  Christian  world."— Ib.  Ep.  cxc.  Optato,  n.  22,  col.  1060.  "  Some  of 
these  men  (Pelagians),  before  this  pestilence  was  condemned  also  by  the 
most  manifest  judgment  of  the  apostolic  see,  might  have  been  well  known 
to  you,  but  whom  you  now  see  of  a  sudden  silent." — Ib.  Ep.  cxci.  Sixto,  n. 
2,  col.  1064.  "  I  wish  to  examine,  in  a  council  of  our  own,  whether  these 
men  ought  not  to  be  cast  out  of  the  Church  .  .  .  and  if  need  be,  I  would 
write  to  the  apostolic  see,  that  it  may  be  settled  and  confirmed  by  the  con 
cordant  authority  of  all,  what  course  we  are  to  follow  in  these  cases." — Ib. 
Ep.  ad  Classican.  col.  1334. 


318  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC 

For  in  spite  of  themselves,  even  the  very  heretics,  and  disci 
ples  of  schisms,  when  speaking  not  with  their  fellows,  but  with 
strangers,  call  the  Catholic  Church  nothing  else  but  the  Catho 
lic  Church.  For  they  cannot  be  understood,  unless  they  dis 
tinguish  her  by  that  name  by  which  she  is  designated  by  the 
whole  world."— T.  i.  De  Vera  Relig.  n.  12  (al.  7),  col.  1214. 
See  also  the  extract  from  T.  viii.  Contr.  Ep.  Fundam.  Mani- 
chcei,  given  under  " Authority" 

PAULINUS  THE  DEACON,  L.  C.1 — "  I  appeal  to  the  justice  of 
your  holiness,  my  Lord  Zozimus,  venerable  pope.  The  true 
faith  is  never  troubled,  and  this  especially  in  the  Apostolic 
Church,  wherein  the  teachers  of  a  corrupt  faith  are  as  easily 
detected  as  they  are  truly  punished  .  .  .  that  they  may  have 
in  them  that  true  faith  which  the  Apostles  taught,  and  which 
is  held  by  the  Eoman  Church,  and  by  all  the  teachers  of  the 
Catholic  faith."— Libell.  Adv.  Cveles.  Zozim.  OUatus.  n.  1 ; 
Galland.  t.  ix.  p.  32. 

ST.  BONIFACE,  POPE,  L.  C.— "  It  is  certain  that  this  Church 
(of  Rome)  is  to  the  churches  spread  over  the  whole  world  as 
the  head  is  to  its  own  members ;  from  which  Church  whoso 
has  cut  himself  off,  has  become  an  alien  to  Christianity,  from 
the  time  that  he  began  not  to  be  in  this  fellowship."  (See  the 
context,  under  "  Primacy  of  Successors  of  St.  Peter"  ) — Ep. 
xiv.  Epis.  Thess.  t.  ix.  Galland.  p.  57. 

BACCHIARIUS,  L.  C.9 — "  If,  for  one  man's  fault,  the  population 
of  a  whole  province  is  to  be  anathematized,  then  will  be  con 
demned  also  that  most  blessed  disciple  (of  Peter's),  Rome  to 
wit,  out  of  which  there  have  sprung  up  not  one,  but  two  or 
three,  or  even  more  heresies,  and  yet  not  one  of  them  has  been 
able  either  to  have  possession,  or  to  move  the  chair  of  Peter, 
that  is,  the  seat  (or  see)  of  faith."  3 — De  Fide,  n.  2  ;  Galland. 
t.  ix.p.  183. 

1  A  deacon  of  Milan :  he  flourished  about  the  year  418.     His  writings  are 
given  in  Gallandius,  t.  ix. 

2  A  learned  monk  whose  writings  are  given  by  Cfallandius,  t.  ix. 

3  Et  tamen  nulla  earum  cathedram  Petri,  hoc  est,  sedem  fidei,  aut  tenere 
potuit  aut  movere. 


CHURCH.  319 

THEODOKET,  G.  C. — See  the  extract  given  from  T.  iv.  Ep. 
cxiii.  Leoni,  under  "  Primacy  of  the  Successors  of  St.  Peter" 

ST.  LEO  I.,  POPE,  L.  C. — "  You,  therefore,  beloved  of  God, 
and  commended  by  an  apostolic  testimony,  to  whom  the  Apos 
tle  Paul,  the  doctor  of  the  Gentiles,  says,  Because  your  faith 
is  spoken  of  in  the  whole  world  (Rom.  i.),  preserve  amongst 
you  that  which  you  know  that  so  great  a  preacher  thought  con 
cerning  you.  Let  none  amongst  you  become  a  stranger  to  this 
praise ;  that  so,  those  whom,  during  so  many  ages,  by  the 
teaching  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  no  heresy  has  violated,  neither 
may  the  defilements  of  the  Eutychian  impiety  be  able  to  stain." 
— Serm.  xcvi.  Tr.  i.  Contr.  Hceres.  Eutych.  c.  iii.  p.  374. 

"  It  behooves  your  friendliness  to  see  clearly,  with  all  your 
soul,  over  the  government  of  what  Church  the  Lord  has  willed 
you  to  preside,  and  to  be  mindful  of  that  doctrine  which  the 
most  blessed  Peter,  the  chief  of  all  the  Apostles,  established 
throughout  the  whole  world  indeed  by  a  uniform  teaching,  but 
by  a  special  instruction1  in  the  cities  of  Antioch  and  of 
Rome.  ...  It  behooves  you,  therefore,  to  be  with  the  utmost 
vigilance  careful,  lest  heretical  pravity  may  claim  anything 
unto  itself ;  since  it  becomes  you,  by  your  sacerdotal  authority, 
to  resist  such,  and  frequently,  by  your  reports  concerning  the 
progress  of  the  churches,  to  inform  us  of  what  is  doing.  For 
it  is  proper  that  you  be  a  partner  with  the  apostolic  chair  in 
this  solicitude ;  and  to  produce  confidence  in  acting,  be  con 
scious  of  the  privileges  of  the  third  see,  which  do  not  suffer  to 
be  lessened  in  anything  by  the  ambition  of  any  individual ;  for 
so  great  is  my  reverence  for  the  Nicsean  canons,  that  I  neither 
have  permitted,  nor  will  I  permit,  the  things  settled  by  the 
holy  fathers  to  be  violated  by  any  innovation.2  For  although 
the  merits  of  prelates  may  sometimes  be  different,  yet  do  the 
rights  of  the  chairs  continue ;  against  which,  although  rivals 
may  create  some  trouble,  yet  can  they  not  lessen  their  dignity. 
Wherefore,  whensoever  your  friendliness  shall  think  that  some- 

'  Special!  magisterio. 

2  Xec  permiserim,  nee  patiar  aliqua  novitate  violari. 


320  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC 

thing  ought  to  be  done  in  support  of  the  privileges  of  the 
church  of  Antioch,  let  it  be  explained  to  me  by  a  letter  from 
you,  that  we  may  be  able  to  reply  positively  and  ben'ttingly." 
—  T.  i.  Ep.  cxix.  ad  Max.  Antioch.  c.  3,  p.  121. 

"  Herein  also  do  we  wish  to  be  aided  by  the  solicitude  of 
your  watchfulness,  that  you  would,  by  your  own  report,  in 
form  the  apostolic  chair  of  what  progress  is  made  by  the 
Lord's  truth  in  your  districts  ;  in  order  that  we  may  aid  the 
priests  of  those  countries,  in  whatsoever  matters  usage  may 
demand/'  —  Ep.  cxx.  ad  Theodoret.  Ep.  Cyr.  c.  vi.  p.  1227. 
See  also  the  extract  from  T.  i.  Serin.  Ixxxii.  n.  1,  3,  given 
under  u  Unity" 

COUNCIL  OF  CHALCEDON,  G.  C.  —  When  this  council,  held  in 
451,  had  closed  —  during  the  celebration  of  which  Pope  Leo 
had,  by  his  delegates,  and  in  many  previous  transactions, 
maintained  a  conspicuous  part,  and  upheld  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  Roman  see  —  the  eastern  prelates  there  assembled  ad 
dressed  an  epistle  to  him,  wherein,  after  extolling  him  as  "  the 
interpreter  of  Peter,"  who  had  ^  nourished  them  by  his  writ 
ings,"  and  declaring  that  he,  by  his  legates,  "  had  presided 
over  them,  as  a  head  over  the  members,"  and  that  to  him  "  the 
guardianship  of  the  vineyard  had  been  entrusted  by  the 
Lord  ;  "  '  they  add,  u  We  signify  (to  you)  that  we  have  also 
decreed  certain  other  things  for  the  sake  of  the  good  ordering 
of  affairs,  and  for  the  stability  of  the  ecclesiastical  laws,  being 
persuaded  that  your  holiness  also,  when  informed  thereof, 
would  both  receive  and  confirm  the  same.  .  .  .  We  have  con 
firmed  the  canon  promulgated  by  the  hundred  and  fifty  fathers 
who  assembled  at  Constantinople  ...  that  after  your  most 
blessed  and  apostolic  (throne),  that  of  Constantinople  should 
have  the  primacy.'  Being  persuaded  that,  as  the  apostolic  ray 
shines  (rules)  with  you,  you  will  often  extend  it  to  this  city 
of  Constantinople,  having  care  (of  it)  as  usual,  through  your 


Tov  rifi  dfj.Tte'X.ov  rr)v  (pvXaurjv  napd  . 

2  METO.  TOV  viiETEpov  dyi  oararor   nai  ditoGroXinov  (Opovov),  rd 
ia  TOV  KGov6ravrivov7i6A.E&)S 


CHURCH.  321 

bestowing  (without  envy)  the  participation  of  your  own  good 
things  upon  those  who  are  related  to  you.  The  things,  there 
fore,  which  we  have  decreed,  for  the  removal  of  all  confusion, 
and  for  the  confirmation  of  the  good  ordering  of  the  Church, 
vouchsafe,  most  holy  and  most  blessed  father,  to  embrace 
them,  as  both  your  own  and  beloved  by  you,  and  tending  unto 
decorum.  For  they  who  filled  the  place  of  your  holiness,  the 
most  holy  bishops,  Paschasinus  and  Lucentius,  and  the  most 
reverend  priest,  Boniface,  tried  to  resist  exceedingly  these 
things  thus  arranged,  wishing  without  doubt  that  this  good 
thing  also  should  be  originated  by  your  forethought,  that  as 
the  happy  establishment  of  the  faith,  so  also  of  this  good 
order,  should  be  accounted  yours.  For  we,  both  reverencing 
the  most  religious  and  most  Christian  sovereigns  who  were 
pleased  with  this,  and  the  illustrious  senate,  and  the  whole 
royal  city,  so  to  speak,  thought  it  befitting  that  the  confirma 
tion  of  the  honor  of  this  city  should  proceed  from  the  oecu 
menical  synod.  .  .  .  We  therefore  call  upon  you  to  honor 
also  with  your  sanction  our  judgment ;  even  as  we  have 
brought  our  harmonious  agreement  unto  the  head  in  (all)  good 
things,  so  also  let  the  head  fulfil  what  is  befitting  for  the 
children.1  For  thus  also  will  the  religious  sovereigns  be  rev 
erenced  who  have  confirmed  the  decision  of  your  holiness  as 
a  law ;  and  the  throne  of  Constantinople  will  make  you  a 
return,  as  it  has  ever  fully  exhibited  all  zeal  towards  the  things 
disposed  by  you  in  the  cause  of  true  religion,  and  has  zeal 
ously  united  itself  with  you  in  oneness  of  sentiment." — Ep. 
Synod.  Leoni,  col.  836-8  ;  T.  iv.  Labi.  Condi. 

COUNCIL  OF  HOME,  L.  C. — In  an  epistle  from  the  fourth 
council  of  Rome,  held  in  494,  we  have  the  following :  "  We 
have  also  thought  that  it  ought  to  be  noticed,  that  although 
the  Catholic  churches,  spread  over  the  world,  be  the  one  bridal 
chamber  as  it  were  of  Christ,  yet  has  the  Roman  Church  been, 

1  OVTGO  nal  rf  Kopv(pr)  roiS  TtaiGlv  dvaitXrjp  00601  TO  rtpeitov.  For 
other  extracts  from  the  council  of  Chalcedon,  and  for  remarks  relating  to 
•the  above  letter,  see  "Primacy  of  the  Successors  of  St.  Peter." 


322         THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

by  certain  synodal  constitutions,  raised  above  the  rest  of  the 
churches  ;  yea,  also,  by  the  evangelical  voice  of  the  Lord  our 
Saviour  did  it  obtain  the  primacy.'  Thou  art  Peter,  and  upon 
this  rock,  &c.  (Matt,  xvi.)  There  has  been  also  added  the 
dwelling  there  of  the  most  blessed  Apostle  Paul,  the  vessel  of 
election ;  who,  not  at  a  different  time,  as  heretics  mutter,  but 
at  the  same  time,  and  on  one  and  the  same  day,  was  crowned, 
together  with  Peter,  by  a  glorious  death  in  the  city  of  Rome, 
suffering  under  Nero ;  and  together  did  they  consecrate  the 
above-named  Roman  Church  to  Christ  the  Lord,  and  by  their 
precious  and  venerable  triumph  have  raised  it  above  all  other 
churches  in  the  whole  world.  The  first  see,  therefore,  of  the 
Apostle  Peter,  is  the  Roman  Church,'  which  has  no  spot  or 
wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing" — Lalb.  t.  ii.  col.  1013. 

VICTOR  VITENSIS,  L.  C.3 — "  If  the  king  wish  to  know  our 
faith,  which  is  the  one,  true  faith,  let  him  send  to  his  friends, 
and  I  too  will  write  to  my  brethren,  that  my  fellow-bishops 
may  come — men  who  may  be  able,  with  me,  to  demonstrate  to 
you  our  common  faith ;  and  especially  the  Roman  Church, 
which  is  the  head  of  all  the  churches.4  ...  If  he  wish  to 
know  the  true  faith,  let  him  write  to  his  friends  that  they 
may  direct  our  Catholic  bishops,  and  I  will  write  to  my  fellow- 
bishops,  because  the  cause  of  the  whole  Catholic  Church  is 
one." — De  Persec.  Afric.  I.  iii.  p.  682 ;  t.  viii.  Bill.  Max. 
SS.  PP. 

1  Voce  Domini  Salvatoris  primatum  obtinuit. 

2  Est  ergo  priraa  Petri  apostoli  sedes  Romana  ecclesia.     The  "prima" 
does  not,  as  the  context  shows,  relate  to  time,  but  dignity,  since  his  having 
been  previously,  for  a  time,  bishop  of  Antioch  is  afterwards  noticed. 

3  An  African  bishop,  who  wrote  the  "  History  of  the  Persecutions  under 
the  Vandals."     He  died  in  the  year  490.     The  edition  used  is  that  given  in 
the  Bibl.  Max.  SS.  PP.,  t.  viii. 

4  Et  praecipue  ecclesia  Romana,  quae  caput  est  omnium  ecclesiarum. 


THE  SCRIPTURES.  323 


THE  SCRIPTURES. 


PROPOSITION    VIII. 

From  the  testimony  and  authority  of  the  Catholic  Church 
we  receive  the  Scriptures,  and  believe  them  to  contain  the  re 
vealed  word  of  God. 

"  From  the  Jews,  who  had  preserved  them  with  religions 
care,  the  Christian  Church  received  the  books  of  the  Old 
Testament.  But  it  was  not  at  once  that  the  canon  of  these 
was  fixed.  For  as  the  Jews  had  not  admitted  some— such  as 
six  chapters  of  the  Book  of  Esther,  Tobias,  Judith,  Wisdom, 
Ecclesiasticus,  Baruch,  the  Machabees,  &c.— their  authority 
was  not  for  a  long  time,  and  not  till  after  mature  deliberation, 
and  a  collation  of  the  scattered  evidences,  universally  ac 
knowledged. 

:<  The  books  of  the  New  Testament,  after  the  ascension  of 
our  Saviour,  were  written  under  various,  often  accidental,  cir 
cumstances,  and  on  various  occasions  :  the  Gospels,  principally 
to  satisfy  the  laudable  wishes  of  many,  who  were  naturally 
desirous  to  be  informed  of  the  facts  of  our  Saviour's  life ;  to 
impress  His  admirable  lessons  on  their  minds ;  to  perpetuate 
His  words ;  and  to  oppose  the  wild  conceptions  of  some  dis 
satisfied  men.  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles  were  written  to 
record  the  first  preaching  of  the  Gospel  by  the  Apostles,  and 
the  interesting  events  of  the  labors  of  St.  Paul;  and  the 
Epistles,  for  the  further  instruction,  generally,  of  those  who 
had  been  converted  to  Christianity,  and  to  strengthen  them  in 
the  arduous  duties  of  their  new  calling. 

O 

'  These  writings,  historical  and  moral — the  latter  addressed 
to  particular  societies — from  a  limited  circulation,  at  first, 
would  be,  and  were,  gradually  more  and  more  extended,  and 
more  and  more  read  in  the  different  assemblies  of  the  faithful. 


324  THE  SCRIPTURES. 

When  the  names  of  the  authors  were  known,  as  it  general 
ly  happened,  the  authenticity  or  genuine  character  of  their 
writings  would  be  at  once  admitted ;  when  this  was  not  the 
case,  or  any  doubt  prevailed,  as  it  did  in  regard  to  the  Epistle 
of  St.  James,  the  Second  Epistle  of  St.  Peter,  the  Secorid  and 
Third  Epistles  of  St.  John,  the  Epistle  of  Jude,  and  for  a 
longer  period,  and  probably  to  a  greater  extent,  in  regard  of 
the  Apocalypse  and  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  some  hesita 
tion  in  admitting  them  as  genuine  and  inspired  would  neces 
sarily  ensue. 

"  But  as  the  several  works  appeared,  the  pastors  of  the  new 
churches,  in  recommending  them  to  their  flocks,  were  in  pos 
session  of  an  infallible  rule  by  which  to  judge  of  the  truth  of 
the  facts  related,  and  of  the  soundness  of  the  doctrines  taught. 
For  some  of  those  pastors  would  be  the  Apostles  themselves, 
who  had  received  their  faith  from  the  mouth  of  Christ,  to 
gether  with  the  commission  to  preach  that  faith  to  all  nations  • 
while  others  would  be  the  disciples  of  these  men,  and  instructed 
by  them  in  all  truth.  With  the  knowledge  which  they  had 
just  acquired,  they  would  compare  the  relations  of  the  evan 
gelists,  and  the  lessons  of  the  various  epistles ;  and  finding 
them  to  accord,  they  could  pronounce  that  as  those  several 
writings,  given  under  the  respective  names  of  their  authors, 
were  genuine  or  authentic,  so  were  their  contents  true  ;  in 
other  words,  that  those  contents  were  divine,  or  the  Word  of 
God;  for  they  conveyed,  they  would  say,  the  very  truths  that 
Christ  Himself  had  delivered.  Thus,  in  the  probable  interpre 
tation  of  the  clause  in  the  last  chapter  of  St.  John's  Gospel, 
the  Asiatic  bishops,  at  whose  request  it  was  written,  recom 
mended  it  to  the  acceptation  of  other  churches  in  the  follow 
ing  words  :  This  is  that  disciple  who  giveth  testimony  of  these 
things,  and  hath  written  these  things  ;  and  we  know  that  his 
testimony  is  true  (xxi.  24).  They  had  often  heard  from  his 
mouth  what  he  had  written  in  his  Gospel ;  others,  probably, 
had  attested  the  same  ;  and  therefore  they  declared  his  testi 
mony  to  be  true. 


THE  SCRIPTURES.  325 

"  As,  on  this  principle  of  conformity  with  what  Christ  had 
done  and  taught,  the  writings  of  which  we  are  speaking  were 
admitted  as  sacred  and  divine ;  so,  at  the  same  time,  for  want 
of  that  conformity,  were  other  writings,  under  the  names  also 
of  Gospels  and  Epistles,  which  then  appeared,  rejected  as 
spurious  and  unworthy  of  belief.  The  progress,  however,  of 
these  researches,  was  in  some  instances  slow  and  deliberate." 

The  preceding  remarks  evidently  treat  in  a  very  incomplete 
manner  the  great  and  difficult  questions  of  the  authenticity, 
genuineness,  inspiration,  and  canon  of  the  sacred  Scriptures. 
It  was  the  wish  of  the  editor  to  discuss  these  subjects  at  some 
length ;  but  it  has  been  found  impracticable  within  the  narrow 
limits  of  this  work.  The  writer  that  shall  execute  for  the 
Deuterocanonical  books  what  Lardner  has  done  for  the 
Protocanonical,  will  perform  a  task,  laborious  indeed,  but 
highly  important.  A  careful  examination,  and  balance  of  the 
weight  of  evidence  to  be  found  in  the  writings  of  the  five  first 
centuries,  in  favor  of  the  Deuterocanonical  books  of  the  Old 
and  of  the  New  Testament,  would,  it  is  believed,  present  a 
result  as  interesting  as  it  is  probably  by  many  unlocked  for. 

The  following  section,  as  the  proposition  imports,  must 
therefore  be  considered  as  furnishing  evidence  that  the  fathers 
received  the  sacred  Scriptures  on  the  authority  of  the  Church : 
it  will  not  be  a  statement  of  what  books  they  individually  re 
ceived,  but  of  the  principle  on  which  they  received  them ; 
together  with  an  account  of  the  final  adjustment  of  the  canon 
in  the  churches  of  Africa  and  of  Rome.  Hence  the  various 
catalogues,  principally  of  the  Jewish  canon,  given  by  Melito, 
St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  Rufinus,  St.  Athanasius,  St.  Epiphanius, 
and  others,  as  well  as  those  found  in  some  early  collections  of 
canons,  will  not  be  found  in  this  place ;  not  merely  for  the 
reason  already  assigned,  but  also  because,  to  give  those  cata 
logues  in  an  isolated  manner,  as  representing  the  opinions  of 
those  writers,  would  not  only  be  an  imperfect,  it  would  be  an 
incorrect,  statement  of  their  sentiments.  Many  of  the  passages 
referred  to  are  found  in  other  parts  of  this  work,  but  it  has 


3-J6  THE  SCRIPTURES. 

been  thought  well  to  collect  them  together,  to  lessen  the  labor 
of  the  reader. 

CENTURY    II. 

ST.  IRENES,  L.  C. — L.  iv.  c.  xxxiii.  n.  7,  8,  p.  272 ;  given 
under  "  Unity" 

TERTULLIAN,  L.  C. — For  his  defence  of  the  genuineness  of 
St.  Luke's  Gospel,  see  1.  v.  Adv.  Martian,  n.  5,  given  under 
"Authority." 

The  context  of  the  following  will  be  found  under  "  Private 
Judgment : "  "  They  (heretics)  put  forward  the  Scriptures, 
and  by  this  their  boldness  they  forthwith  move  some ;  but  in 
the  actual  encounter  they  weary  the  strong,  catch  the  weak, 
send  away  the  wavering  without  a  doubt.  We  therefore  in 
terpose  this  first  and  foremost  position,  that  they  are  not  to  be 
admitted  to  any  discussion  whatever  touching  the  Scriptures. 
If  these  be  those  weapons  of  strength  of  theirs,  in  order  that 
they  may  possess  them,  it  ought  to  be  seen  to  whom  the  pos 
session  of  the  Scriptures  belongeth,  lest  he  may  be  admitted 
to  it,  to  whom  it  in  no  wise  belongs.  .  .  .  Therefore  there 
must  be  no  appeal  to  the  Scriptures,  nor  must  the  contest  be 
constituted  in  these,  in  which  the  victory  is  either  none  or 
doubtful,  or  too  little  doubtful.  For  even  though  the  debate 
on  the  Scriptures  should  not  so  turn  out  as  to  confirm  each 
party,  the  order  of  things  required  that  this  question  should 
be  first  proposed,  which  is  now  the  only  one  to  be  discussed, 
'  To  whom  belongs  the  very  faith ;  whose  are  the  Scriptures  ; 
by  whom,  and  through  whom,  and  when,  and  to  whom,  was 
that  rule  (discipline)  delivered  whereby  men  become  Chris 
tians  ? '  for  wherever  both  the  true  Christian  rule  and  faith 
shall  be  shown  to  be,  there  will  be  the  true  Scriptures,  and  the 
true  expositions,  and  all  the  true  Christian  traditions." — De 
Prcescr.  n.  15,  p.  9.  See  also  Tertuttian,  note  in  loc.,  under 
"  Councils." 

ORIGEN,  G.  C. — See  the  extracts  from  his  Epistle  to  Afri- 
canus,  wherein  he  vindicates  the  Deuterocanonical  books  of 
the  old  law,  especially  the  contested  portions  of  Daniel — 


THE  SCRIPTURES.  327 

given  under  "Authority  ;  "  and  note  in  loco  (Origen),  under 
"  The  Church  the  Expounder  of  Scripture" 

"  As  I  have  learned  by  tradition  regarding  the  four  Gospels, 
which  also  are  the  only  undisputed  ones  in  the  Church  of  God 

which  is  under  heaven,  that  the  first  was  written,"  &c. T.  iii. 

Comm.  in  Matt.  p.  4440  ;  Euseb.  II.  E.  I.  vi.  c.  xxv. 

"If    therefore   any   church    holds   this   epistle   as    Paul's 
(Hebrews),  let   it   receive   praise  on  this  account.     For  the 

ancients  have  not  rashly  transmitted  it  as  Paul's." T.  iv. 

Frag,  in  Ep.  ad  Hebr.  p.  698. 

ST.  DIONYSIUS  OF  ALEXANDRIA,  G.  C.— "  Some  indeed  of 
those  before  us  have  utterly  repudiated  and  refuted  this  book 
(the  Apocalypse),  examining  it  chapter  by  chapter,  and  show 
ing  it  to  be  both  unintelligible  and  inconsistent  (or,  uncon 
nected),  and  that  the  title  is  false.  For  they  say  that  it  is  not 
John's ;  nay,  that  it  is  not  a  revelation,  wrapped  up  as  it  is  in 
so  exceeding  and  thick  a  covering  of  ignorance ;  and  that  the 
composer  of  the  work  is  not  only  not  any  one  of  the  Apostles, 
but  not  even  any  one  of  the  saints  at  all,  or  any  member  of  the 
Church  ;  but  that  it  was  Cerinthus, — he  who  set  up  the  heresy 
called  from  him  the  Cerinthian, — who  wished  to  affix  to  his 
system  a  name  that  carried  with  it  credit.  .  .  .  But  I  would 
not  venture  to  repudiate  this  book ;  many  of  the  brethren 
holding  it  in  esteem.1  And  conceiving  this  opinion  concern 
ing  it,  that  it  is  above  my  comprehension,  I  suppose  it  to  con 
tain  in  each  part  a  hidden  and  very  admirable  meaning.  .  .  . 
That  the  writer  is  called  John  ;  and  that  this  is  the  writing  of 
John,  I  do  not  gainsay ;  and  I  also  admit,  that  it  is  the  work 
of  some  holy  and  divinely-inspired  individual ;  but  I  would 
not  readily  acknowledge  that  this  is  the  Apostle,  the  son  of 
Zebedee,  and  the  brother  of  James,  he  from  wliom  are  the 
gospel  entitled  according  to  John,  and  also  the  Catholic 
epistle." — Euseb.  II.  E.  I.  vii.  c.  xxv.  pp.  352-3. 

SEBAPION,  G.  C. — "We  receive  even  as  Christ,"  &c.,  as 
given  under  "  Tradition"  from  Euseb.  II.  E.  I.  vi.  c.  12. 
ax  avro  Sid  tiitovdrjS  exorraov 


328  THE  SCRIPTURES. 

EUSEBIUS,  G.  C.  —  The  heading  of  the  twenty-fifth  chapter 
of  the  third  book  of  his  Ecclesiastical  History,  is  as  follows  : 
"  Concerning  the  divine  writings  that  are  acknowledged,1  and 
those  that  are  not  such."  "  It  is  proper,  now  that  we  have 
reached  this  place,  to  name  briefly  the  writings  already  alluded 
to  of  the  New  Testament,  and  we  must  set  in  the  first  place 
the  four  Holy  Gospels  ;  which  are  followed  by  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  ;  and  after  this  are  to  be  reckoned  the  epistles  of 
Paul.  After  these,  that  called  the  first  Epistle  of  John,  and 
also  the  Epistle  of  Peter,  are  to  be  received.  After  these,  is 
to  be  placed,  if  it  be  thought  fit,  the  Apocalypse  of  John,  the 
opinions  concerning  which  will  be  stated  at  a  proper  season. 
And  these  are  indeed  amongst  the  acknowledged  Scriptures. 
Of  the  controverted,2  but  which  are  nevertheless  well  known 
(or,  approved  of)  by  many,  are  that  called  the  Epistle  of  James, 
and  that  of  Jude,  and  the  second  Epistle  of  Peter,  and  the 
second  and  third  of  John,  whether  they  are  the  evangelist's, 
or  of  some  other  person  of  the  same  name.  Amongst  the 
spurious  3  are  to  be  placed  the  book  of  the  acts  of  Paul,  and 
that  called  the  Pastor,  and  the  apocalypse  of  Peter  ;  add  to 
these  the  epistle  circulated  as  by  Barnabas,  and  the  so-called 
instructions  of  the  Apostles  ;  and  likewise,  as  I  have  said,  the 
apocalypse  of  John,  if  it  seem  meet,  which  some,  as  I  have 
remarked,  repudiate  ;  but  others  reckon  amongst  the  acknow 
ledged  Scriptures.  Some  have  also  now  classed  amongst  the 
spurious  the  Gospel  according  to  the  Hebrews,  which  those  who 
from  amongst  the  Jews  have  received  Christ  especially  delight 
in.  All  the  above  writings  are  controverted.  And  yet  I  have 
of  necessity  given  a  catalogue  of  them,  distinguishing,  ac 
cording  to  the  tradition  of  the  Church,4  those  writings  which 
are  true,  genuine  and  acknowledged,  from  the  other  writings 
in  addition  to  these,  which  are  not  put  into  the  body  of  the 
New  Testament,  and  are  even  controverted,  but  which  still  are 
acknowledged  by  the  greater  number  of  ecclesiastical  writers  ; 


4  Kara.  TTJV  £Hx\7j6ia.6tiHrfv  napcidoGiv. 


THE  SCRIPTURES.  329 

that  thus  we  may  be  able  to  know  both  what  writings  are  of 
this  character,  and  also  those  which  are  circulated  by  heretics 
under  the  name  of  the  Apostles,  as  containing  the  Gospels  of 
Peter,  and  of  Thomas,  and  of  Matthias,  and  even  of  others  be 
sides  these,  and  the  acts  of  John  and  of  the  other  Apostles. "- 
Hist.  Eccles.  1.  iii.  c.  xxv.jtp.  118-9.  See  also  Jb.  I.  iii.  c.  iii. 
pp.  89,  90. 

ST.  CYRIL  OF  JERUSALEM,  G.  C. — Catech.  iv.  n.  33,  35,  under 
"Authority?' 

ST.  ATHANASIUS,  G.  C. — See  the  extract  from  the  Epist. 
Festal,  given  under  "  Tradition" 

ST.  GREGORY  OF  NYSSA,  G.  C. — T.  ii.  I.  ii.  Adv.  Eunom. 
given  under  "  Tradition" 

ANDREW  OF  C^ESAREA,  G.  C. —  Comm.  in  Apoc.  Procem.  given 
under  ^Tradition"  l 

COUNCIL  OF  CARTHAGE.' — "  Moreover,  it  hath  seemed  good 
that,  besides  the  canonical  Scriptures,  nothing  be  read  in  the 
Church  under  the  name  of  canonical  Scriptures.3  But  the 
canonical  Scriptures  are,  Genesis,  Exodus,  Leviticus,  Numbers, 
Deuteronomy,  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun,  Judges,  Ruth,  four 
books  of  the  kingdoms,  two  books  of  Paralipomenon,  Job,  the 
Psaltery  of  David,  five  books  of  Solomon,  twelve  books  of  the 
Prophets,  Isaias,  Jeremias,  Ezechiel,  Daniel,  Tobias,  Judith, 
Esther,  two  books  of  Esdras,  two  books  of  the  Machabees.4 
But  of  the  New  Testament,  four  books  of  the  Gospels,  &c.  (as 

1  The  following  passage  of  St.  Jerome,  which  relates  to  the  council  of 
Nicasa,  deserves  notice:  "As  we  read  that  the  synod  of  Nicaea  reckoned  this 
book  (Judith)  in  the  number  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  I  have  yielded  to 
your  request,  or  rather  requirement,  and  have  translated  it." — Prmf.  in 
Lib.  Judith. 

2  The  third  council  of  Carthage,  or,  according  to  another  computation, 
the  sixth,  was  held  in  the  year  397,  and  was  presided  over  by  Aurelius, 
bishop  of  Carthage.     St.  Augustine,  with  other  bishops,  amounting  in  num 
ber  to  forty-four,  were  present. 

3  Item  placuit  ut,  prater  scripturas  canonicas,  nihil  in  ecclesia  legatur 
sub  nomine  Divinarum  Scripturarum. 

4  In  some  of  the  Greek  translations  the  Machabees  are  omitted,  but  they 
are  in  all  the  Latin  copies,  and  in  the  code  of  Cresconius,  himself  an  Afri 
can  bishop. 


330  THE  SCRIPTURES. 

in   our   Catalogue)." — Condi.    Cartkag.   in.    Can.  xlvii.  col. 
1177 ;  t.  ii.  Labi.  Condi. 

COUNCIL  OF  TOLEDO,  L.  C. — This  council,  which  was  held  in 
the  year  400,  thus  defines  :  "  If  any  one  shall  say,  or  shall  be 
lieve,  that  other  Scriptures,  besides  those  which  the  Catholic 
Church  has  received,  are  to  be  esteemed  of  authority,  or  to  be 
venerated,  let  him  be  anathema." — Can.  xii.  col.  122 S ;  t.  ii. 
Labb.  Condi. 

CENTURY    V. 

ST.  AUGUSTINE,  L.  V.— Contr.  Ep.  Fundam.  I.  xxxii.  n.  19, 
t.  viii. ;  Contr.  Ep.  Munich.  Fundam.  n.  5,  6,  t.  viii. ;  given 
under  ''Authority."  Contr.  Faust.  Munich.  I.  xxviii.  n.  2,  t. 
viii. ;  given  under  "Church  the  Expounder  of  Scripture" 

"  In  (receiving)  the  Scriptures  (as)  canonical,  let  him  follow 
the  authority  of  the  greater  number  of  Catholic  churches, 
amongst  which  churches  assuredly  let  those  be  which  have 
merited  to  have  apostolic  sees,  and  to  receive  epistles  from 
Apostles.1  lie  will  adhere  to  this  method  as  regards  canonical 
Scriptures, — he  will  prefer  those  Scriptures  which  are  received 
by  all  Catholic  churches,  to  those  which  some  churches  do  not 
receive  :  whilst,  as  regards  those  which  are  not  received  by  all, 
he  will  prefer  those  which  the  greater  number  and  the  more 
eminent  of  the  churches  receive,  to  those  which  are  received 
by  the  smaller  number,  and  by  churches  of  less  authority. 
But  if  he  should  iind  some  received  by  the  greater  number  of 
churches,  others  by  the  more  eminent, — though  he  cannot  easily 
meet  with  this, — I  think  that  such  Scriptures  are  to  be  ac 
counted  of  equal  authority.  Now,  the  entire  canon  of  the  Scrip 
tures,  in  regard  of  which  we  say  that  the  above  considerations 
are  to  be  applied,  is  comprised  in  these  books :  the  five  books 
of  Moses,  to  wit,  Genesis,  Exodus,  Leviticus,  Numbers,  Deu 
teronomy  ;  one  book  of  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun  ;  one  of  Judges ; 
one  small  tract  called  Ruth,  which  seems  rather  to  belong  to 

1  In  canonicis  autem  scripturis.  ecclesiarura  catholicarum  quamplurium 
auctoritatem  sequatur  ;  inter  quas  sane  illae  sint,  quae  apostolicas  sedes 
habere,  et  epistolas  accipere  meruerunt. 


THE  SCRIPTURES.  331 

the  beginning  of  the  Kingdoms ;  next,  the  four  books  of  the 
Kingdoms,  and  two  of  the  Paralipomenon.  These  books  are 
a  history,  which  contains  a  connected  account  of  the  times,  and 
of  the  order  of  the  events.  There  are  other  books,  which 
seem  of  a  different  class,  and  are  neither  connected  with  the 
preceding  class,  nor  with  each  other ;  such  is  Job,  such  Tobias, 
and  Esther,  and  Judith,  and  the  two  books  of  Machabees,  and 
two  of  Esdras,  which  seem  rather  more  to  follow  up  that  re 
gular  course  of  history,  which  closed  with  the  Kingdoms,  or 
the  Paralipomenon:  next  follow  the  prophetical  writings, 
amongst  which  are  one  book  of  the  Psalms  of  David ;  and 
three  books  of  Solomon,  the  Proverbs,  the  Canticle  of  Can 
ticles,  and  Ecclesiastes.  For  those  two  books,  one  entitled 
Wisdom,  and  the  other  Ecclesiasticus,  are  said  to  be  Solomon's, 
on  account  of  a  certain  resemblance  (to  his  writings) ;  but  they 
are  very  uniformly  declared  to  have  been  written  by  Jesus  the 
son  of  Sirach,1  which  books,  however,  since  they  have  merited 
to  be  received  into  authority,  are  to  be  reckoned  amongst  the 
prophetical  writings.2  The  rest  are  the  books  of  those  who  are 
properly  called  prophets :  the  several  books  of  the  twelve  proph 
ets,  which,  connected  with  each  other,  as  they  are  never  sepa 
rated,  are  reckoned  one  book :  the  names  of  these  prophets  are, 
Osee,  Joel,  Amos,  Abdias,  Jonas,  Michseas,  Nahum,  Habacuc, 
Sophonias,  Aggseus,  Zacharias,  Malachy:  next  are  the  four 
prophets  who  have  left  us  volumes  of  greater  length ;  Isaias, 
Jeremias,  Daniel,  Ezechiel.  In  these  forty-four  books  is  com 
prised  the  authority  of  the  Old  Testament.3  [Then  follows  a  list 
of  the  usual  books  of  the  New  Testamert.]  In  all  these  books 
the  God-fearing  and  the  pious  seek  the  will  of  God."  4  —T.  iii. 
I.  ii.  De  Doctrina  Christiana,  n.  12-14,  (al.  8-9),  col.  47-49. 

if- — — — 

1  In  his  Retract.  1.  ii.  c.  4,  n.  2,  he  modifies  this  opinion  as  regards  the 
Book  of  Wisdom. 

2  Qui  tamen  quoniam  in  auctoritatem  recipi  meruerunt,  inter  propheticos 
numerandi  sunt. 

3  His  quadraginta  quatuor  libris  Testament!  veteris  terminatur  auctoritas. 
*  In  his  omnibus  timentes  Detim  et  pietati  mansueti  quaerunt  voluntatem 

Dei. 


332  THE  SCRIPTURES. 

ST.  INNOCENT  I.,  POPE,  L.  C. — In  his  letter  to  Exuperius, 
bishop  of  Toulouse,  we  have  the  Roman  catalogue  of  the 
books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  as  follows :  "  What 
books  are  received  in  the  canon  of  the  holy  Scriptures,  this 
brief  addition  shows.  These,  therefore,  are  the  writings 
which  you  have  with  your  beloved  voice  desired  to  be  in 
formed  of.1  Five  books  of  Moses,  that  is  Genesis,  Exodus, 
Leviticus,  Numbers,  Deuteronomy ;  and  one  book  of  Joshua 
the  son  of  Nun,  of  Judges  one ;  of  the  kingdoms  four  books, 
together  also  with  Ruth.  Of  the  prophets  sixteen  books  :  of 
Solomon  five  books :  the  Psalter.  Of  histories :  of  Job  one 
book  ;  of  Tobias  one;  of  Esther  one;  of  Judith  one;  of  the 
Machabees  two ;  of  Esdras  two ;  of  Paralipomenon  two. 
Likewise  of  the  Xew  Testament,  the  four  books  of  the  Gos 
pels,  &c.  .  .  .  [Having  given  our  catalogue  of  the  New  Tes 
tament,  he  adds :]  But  the  other  books,  which  are  (circulated), 
whether  under  the  name  of  Matthias,  or  of  James  the  less,  or 
under  the  name  of  Peter  and  of  John,  which  were  written 
by  one  Leucius,  or  under  the  name  of  Andrew,  which  are  by 
the  philosophers  Xenocharis  and  Leonidas,  or  under  the  name 
of  Thomas,  and  if  there  be  any  other  such,  they  are  not  only 
to  be  repudiated,  but  know  that  they  are  even  to  be  con 
demned."—^,  ad  Exuper.  n.  7,  p.  1256,  t.  ii.  Labb.  Condi. 

ST.  ISIDORE  OF  PELUSIUM,  G.  C.— "The  sacred  volumes 
which  contain  the  testimonies  of  the  divine  writings,  are 
steps  whereby  to  ascend  to  God.  All  these  books,  therefore, 
that  are  set  before  thee  in  the  Church  of  God,  receive  as  tried 
gold,  they  having  been  tried  in  the  fire  by  the  divine  Spirit  of 
the  truth.  But  leave  aside  those  which  are  scattered  about 
without  the  Church,"  &c.,  as  given  under  "Authority."— L. 
1,  Ep.  ccclxix.  Gyro,  p.  96,  Paris.  1638. 

ST.  CYRIL  OF  ALEXANDRIA,  G.  C. — Z.  v.  De  Ador.  in  Sp. 
et  Ver.  t.  i.  under  "  Tradition" 

ST.  GELASIUS,  POPE,  L.  C. — In  the  first  council  of  Rome, 

1  Qui  vero  libri  recipiantur  in  canone  Sanctarum  Scripturarnm,  brevis 
adnexus  ostendit.  Haec  sunt  ergo  quae  desiderata  moneri  roce  voluisti. 


THE  SCRIPTURES.  333 

held  in  494,  there  is  a  canon  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament, 
which  is  prefaced  as  follows  :  "  The  order  of  the  books  of  the 
Old  Testament,  which  the  holy  and  Catholic  Roman  Church 
receives  and  venerates,  arranged  by  blessed  Gelasius  L,  Pope, 
together  with  seventy  bishops."  [Then  follows  the  list  of  the 
books  of  the  old  law,  as  in  our  canon,  with  the  exception  that 
in  some  manuscripts  one  book  only  of  the  Machabees  is 
named,  in  others  two  books  are  given.  The  catalogue  of  the 
writings  of  the  New  Testament  is  the  same,  in  every  respect, 
as  that  used  in  our  Church.] 

Thus  was  the  canon  of  Scripture  finally  determined  in  the 
churches  of  Africa  and  of  Rome.  Nearly  a  similar  canon 
was  also  eventually  received  in  all  the  churches,  whether  or 
thodox  or  schismatical,  in  the  east ;  and,  in  the  other  portions 
of  the  Western  Church,  the  Roman  canon  was  gradually  ac 
cepted  as  authoritative.  By  the  labors,  especially  of  Origen 
in  the  east,  and  of  St.  Jerome  in  the  west,  encouraged  by  St. 
Damasus,  as  also  by  the  learned  expositions  of  others  among 
the  fathers,  those  of  St.  Chrysostom  and  of  St.  Augustine 
particularly,  was  the  purity  of  the  sacred  text  preserved,  or 
restored,  and  its  meaning  elucidated :  and  by  their  labors,  and 
those  of  their  successors,  have  authentic  copies  of  the  Scrip 
tures,  in  the  great  points  of  faith  and  morality,  been  trans 
mitted  to  us  in,  and  by,  the  Church,  which  applauded  an4 
sanctioned  the  successful  efforts  of  those  learned  men  in  the 
cause  of  religious  truth. 

COUNCIL  OF  TRENT. — "  The  holy  and  sacred  synod.  .  .  .  Set 
ting  this  always  before  its  eyes,  that,  errors  being  removed, 
the  purity  itself  of  the  gospel  be  preserved  in  the  Church ; 
which  (gospel),  before  promised  through  the  prophets  in  the 
sacred  Scriptures,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  first 
promulgated  by  His  own  mouth,  and  then,  by  His  Apostles, 
commanded  it  to  be  preached  to  every  creature,  as  the  foun 
tain  both  of  all  saving  truth  and  moral  discipline ;  and  seeing 
clearly  that  this  truth  and  this  discipline  are  contained  in  the 
written  books  and  the  unwritten  traditions,  which  (traditions),, 


334  THE  CHURCH 

received  by  the  Apostles  from  the  mouth  of  Christ  Himself, 
or  from  the  Apostles  themselves,  the  Holy  Spirit  dictating, 
have  come  down  to  us,  transmitted  as  it  were  from  hand  to 
hand ;  (the  sacred  synod),  following  the  examples  of  the  or 
thodox  fathers,  with  an  equal  affection  and  reverence  of  piety, 
receives  and  venerates  all  the  books,  as  well  of  the  Old  as  of 
the  New  Testament — whereas  one  God  is  the  author  of  both— 
as  also  the  traditions  themselves  pertaining  as  well  to  faith  as 
to  morals,  as  having  been  dictated  by  Christ's  own  mouth,  or 
by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  preserved  in  the  Church  by  a  continu 
ous  succession.  It  has  determined  that  a  list  of  the  sacred 
books  is  to  be  appended  to  this  decree ;  lest  a  doubt  may  arise 
in  any  one's  mind,  what  are  the  books  which  are  received  by 
this  synod."  [This  is  followed  by  an  enumeration  of  all  the 
books,  as  they  are  received  and  read  in  the  Catholic  Church.] 
— Sess.  iv. 


THE   CHURCH    IS  THE   EXPOUNDER   OF  THE 
SCRIPTURES. 


PROPOSITION  IX. 


As  tJie  Church  can  assuredly  tell  us  wit  at  particular  book 
is  the  Word  of  God,  so  can  she,  with  the  like  assurance,  teU 
us  the  true  sense  and  meaning  of  it,  in  controverted  points 
of  faith:  the  same  Spirit,  which  directed  the  writing  of  the 
Scriptures,  directing  the  Church  to  understand  them,  and  to 
teach  all  mysteries  and  duties  that  are  necessary  to  salvation. 


SCRIPTURE. 

Acts  xv.  1. — "  And  some  coming  down  from  Judaea  (to  An- 
tioch)  taught  the  brethren  :  that  except  you  be  circumcised 
after  the  manner  of  Moses,  you  cannot  be  saved."  [The  sa' 
cred  writer  then  proceeds  to  relate,  that  the  Apostles  and  an 


THE  EXPOUNDER  OF  SCRIPTURE.  335 

«ients  came  together  to  consider  of  this  matter;  and  that 
when  there  had  been  much  disputing,  Peter  and  James  deliv 
ered  their  opinions  ;  and  Barnabas  and  Paul  told  what  great 
signs  and  wonders  God  had  wrought  among  the  Gentiles 
by  them.] — Ib.  22.  "Then  it  pleased  the  Apostles  and  an 
cients,  with  the  whole  Church,  to  choose  men  of  their  own 
company,  and  to  send  them  to  Antioch  with  Paul  and  Barna 
bas  (ib.  23,  28-9),  writing  by  their  hands  :  It  hath  seemed  good 
to  the  Holy  Ghost  and  to  us,  to  lay  no  farther  burden  upon 
you  than  these  necessary  things  :  that  you  abstain  from  things 
sacrificed  to  idols,  and  from  blood,  and  from  things  strangled, 
and  from  fornication  (ib.  ±1) ;  and  he  (Paul)  went  through 
Syria  and  Cilicia,  confirming  the  churches  ;  commanding  them 
to  keep  the  precepts  of  the  Apostles  and  the  ancients."  See 
also  the  texts  quoted  under  the  "  Authority  "  and  "  Indefecti- 
bility  "  of  the  Church  ;  and  also  under  "  Private  Judgment" 


THE   FATHERS. 


CENTURY    II. 


ST.  IREN^EUS,  L.  C. — 1.  "  If  any  one,  therefore,  read  the 
Scriptures  attentively,  he  will  find  in  them,  discourse  concern 
ing  Christ,  and  a  prefiguration  of  a  new  vocation.  For  Christ 
is  the  treasure  hidden  in  the  field,  that  is,  in  this  world  (for 
the  field  is  the  world) ;  but  Christ  is  a  treasure  hidden  in  the 
Scriptures,  because  He  was  signified  by  types  and  parables.  .  .  . 
Wherefore,  as  we  have  shown,  if  any  one  read  the  Scriptures 
(for  so  the  Lord  discoursed  with  the  disciples  after  His  resur 
rection  from  the  dead,  showing  them,  from  the  Scriptures 
themselves,  that  it  behooved  Christ  to  suffer  and  to  enter  into 
His  glory,  and  that  remission  of  sins  should  be  preached  in 
His  name  throughout  the  whole  world),  he  will  both  be  a  per 
fect  disciple  and  like  unto  a  householder  who  bringeth  forth 
out  of  his  treasure  new  things  and  old. 

2.  "  Therefore  we  ought  to  be  obedient  to  those  presbyters 


336  THE  CHURCH 

who  are  in  the  Church,1  to  those  who  have  the  succession 
from  Apostles,  as  we  have  shown  ;  who,  together  with  the  suc 
cession  of  the  episcopacy,  have  received,  according  to  the  good 
will  of  the  Father,  the  sure  gift  of  truth :  *  but  the  others, 
who  depart  from  the  principal  succession,  and  assemble  in  any 
place  whatever,  (we  ought)  to  hold  suspected — either  as  here 
tics,  and  of  evil  opinion ;  or  as  schismatics,  and  proud,  and  as 
men  pleasing  themselves  ;  *  or,  again,  as  hypocrites,  doing  this 
for  gain's  sake  and  vain-glory.  But  all  these  have  fallen  away 
from  the  truth.  And  heretics  indeed,  who  bring  a  strange  fire 
to  the  altar  of  God,  that  is,  strange  doctrines,  will  be  consumed 
by  iire  from  heaven,  as  Xadab  and  Abiud.  Whilst  they  who 
rise  up  against  the  truth,  and  give  advice  to  others  against  God's 
Church,4  dwell  in  hell,  swallowed  up  by  the  yawning  earth,  as 
they  who  surrounded  Core,  Dathan,  and  Abiron.  But  they 
who  rend  asunder  and  sever  the  unity  of  the  Church,  receive 
from  God  the  same  punishment  as  befell  Jeroboam. 

3.  "But  they  who  are  indeed  by  many  believed  to  be  pres 
byters,  but  are  enslaved  to  their  pleasures  .  .  .  from  all  such 
we  ought  to  keep  aloof,  but  (4)  to  cling  to  those  who  both 
guard  the  doctrine  of  the  Apostles,5  as  we  have  already  said, 
and,  together  with  the  order  of  the  priesthood,  present  sound 
discourse,  and  an  inoffensive  life,  for  the  confirmation  and 
chastening  of  others.  . 

c> 

5.  u  Such  presbyters  the  Church  nourishes.  .  .  .  Where, 
therefore,  the  gifts  of  God  are  placed,  there  we  ought  to  learn 
the  truth,  (from  those)  with  whom  is  that  succession  of  the 
Church  which  is  from  the  Apostles ; 6  and  that  which  is  sound 

1  Quapropter  eis  qui  in  ecclesia  sunt,  presbyteris  obaudire  oportet. 
8  Charisma  veritatis  certum. 

3  Vel  quasi  scindentes  .  .  .  et  sibi  placentes. 

4  Alteros  adhortantur  adversus  ecclesiam  Dei. 

6  Adha?rere  vero  his  qui  et  apostolorum,  sicut  praediximus,  doctrinam 
custodiunt. 

6  Tales  presbyteros  nutrit  ecclesia  .  .  .  ubi  igitur  charismata  Domini 
posita  sunt,  ibi  discere  oportet  veritatem,  apud  quos  est  ea  quas  est  ab  apos- 
tolis  ecclesia?  successio. 


THE  EXPOUNDER  OF  SCRIPTURE.  337 

and  irreprovable  in  conversation,  and  unadulterated  and  in 
corruptible  in  discourse,  abides.  For  they  both  guard  that 
faith  of  ours  in  one  God,  who  made  all  things,  and  increase 
our  love  towards  the  Son  of  God,  who  made  such  dispositions 
on  our  account ;  and  they  expound  the  Scriptures  to  us  without 
danger,1  neither  uttering  blasphemy  against  God,  nor  dishon 
oring  the  patriarchs,  nor  contemning  the  prophets." — Adv. 
Hceres.  I.  iv.  c.  xxvi.  n.  \-§,pp.  261-3. 

"  If  a  man  believe  in  one  God,  who  also  by  His  word  made 
all  things,  as  Moses  saith,  God  said.  Let  there  be  light,  and 
there  was  light  .  .  .  and  likewise  the  Apostle  Paul :  One 
Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism,  one  God  and  Father,  who  is 
above  all,  and  in  us  all, — he  will  first  hold  to  tlie  head  .  .  . 
(Coloss.  ii.  19).  Then,  afterwards,  also  every  discourse  will  be 
clear  to  him,  if  also  he  read  the  Scriptures  diligently  with 
(amongst)  those  who  are  presbyters  in  the  Church,  with  whom 
is  the  apostolic  doctrine,  as  we  have  demonstrated." 2 — Adv. 
Hmres.  I.  iv.  c.  xxxii.  n.  1,  2,  pp.  269-70. 

"  He  who  preserves  within  him  that  unvarying  rule  (canon) 
of  faith  which  he  received  through  baptism,  will  indeed  recog 
nize  the  names  which  are  from  the  Scriptures,  and  the  sayings 
and  the  parables,  but  this  their  blasphemous  argument  he  will 
not  recognize."  '  —Ibid.  1.  i.  c.  ix.  n.  4,  pp.  46-7.  See  also  I.  iv. 
c.  33,  n.  8,  given  under  "  Unity ;"  and  1.  v.  c.  20,  n.  1,  2, 
given  under  "  Visibility." 

CLEMENT  OF  ALEXANDRIA,  G.  C. — Eeplying  to  the  objection, 
that  there  were  differences  of  opinion,  or  of  faith,  amongst 
Christians,  Clement  says  :  "  If  a  man  violate  his  plighted  faith, 
arid  overstep  that  confession  which  is  amongst  us,  shall  we  also 
abstain  from  the  truth,  on  account  of  his  having  belied  the 

1  Scripturas  sine  periculo  nobis  exponunt. 

2  Post  deinde  et  omnis  sermo  ei  constabit,  si  et  scripturas  diligenter 
legerit  apud  eos  qui  in  ecclesia  sunt  presbyteri,  apud  quos  est  apostolica 
doctrina. 

3  ''It  is  evident  that  he  (St.   Irenaeus)  regarded   the  tradition  of  the 
Church  to  that  extent  (the  Baptismal  Creed)  as  divine  and  infallible."— 
JBeaven's  Account  of  Irenceus,  Lond.  1841. 


338  THE  CHURCH 

confession  ?  Rather,  as  it  behooveth  every  upright  man  to 
avoid  falsehood,  and  to  violate  in  no  one  thing  what  he  has 
promised,  although  others  may  overstep  their  pledged  faith,  so 
does  it  behoove  us  in  no  way  whatever  to  overstep  the  eccle 
siastical  rule  (canon) ;  and  we  guard  especially,  whilst  they 
overstep,  the  confession  which  refers  to  things  of  the  greatest 
importance.  Wherefore,  credence  is  to  be  given  to  those  who 
hold  firmly  to  the  truth.  ...  As  where  there  is  one  royal 
road,  and  also  many  other  roads,  some  of  which  lead  to  a  pre 
cipice,  and  others  to  an  impetuous  river,  or  to  the  deep  sea, 
one  would  not  be  afraid,  on  account  of  that  diversity,  to  jour 
ney  on,  but  would  use  the  one  that  is  free  from  danger,  and  is 
the  king's  highway,  and  the  frequented  road ;  so  also,  when 
different  men  assert  different  things  regarding  the  truth,  we 
are  not  to  withdraw ;  but  the  most  accurate  knowledge  re 
specting  the  truth  is  to  be  the  more  carefully  sought  after.  As, 
even  with  the  garden-plants  there  spring  up  weeds ;  do  the 
laborers  therefore  cease  from  their  horticulture  ?  We  have, 
then,  from  nature,  many  incentives  to  an  examination  into  the 
things  that  are  spoken,  and  we  ought  to  searcli  out  the  cohe 
rence  (aKoXovSiav)  of  the  truth.  Therefore  also  are  we  de 
servedly  condemned,  if  we  settle  not  down  together  with  those 
who  ought  to  be  obeyed,1  and  discriminate  not  what  is  repug 
nant  and  unbecoming  and  unnatural  and  false,  from  what  is 
true  and  coherent  and  becoming  and  natural." — Strom,  l.vii.pp. 
887-8.  See  also  the  extracts  given  under  "Apostolidty." 

TKRTULLIAN,  L.  C. — "  Therefore  there  must  be  no  appeal  to 
the  Scriptures,  nor  must  the  contest  be  constituted  in  these 
things,  in  which  the  victory  is  either  none  or  doubtful,  or  too 
little  doubtful.  For  even  though  the  debate  on  the  Scriptures 
should  not  so  turn  out  as  to  confirm  each  party,  the  order  of 
things  required  that  this  question  should  be  first  proposed, 
which  is  now  the  only  one  to  be  discussed,  '  To  whom  belongs 
the  very  faith  ;  whose  are  the  Scriptures  ;  by  whom,  and  through 
whom,  and  when,  and  to  whom,  wras  that  rule  (discipline)  de- 
xpivo/ueQa,  oh  6sov  7teifj£<5bai,  f 


THE  EXPOUNDER  OF  SCRIPTURE.  339 

livered  whereby  men  become  Christians  ;  '  for  wherever  both 
the  true  Christian  rule  and  faith  shall  be  shown  to  be,  there 
will  be  the  true  Scriptures,  and  the  true  expositions,  and 
all  the  true  Christian  traditions.  If  these  things  be  so,  so 
that  the  truth  be  adjudged  to  us,  as  many  as  walk  according 
to  that  rule  which  the  Church  has  handed  down  from  the  Apos 
tles,  the  Apostles  from  Christ,  Christ  from  God,  the  reason 
ableness  of  our  proposition  is  manifest,  which  determines  that 
heretics  are  not  to  be  allowed  to  enter  upon  an  appeal  to  the 
Scriptures,  whom  we  prove,  without  the  Scriptures,  to  have  no 
concern  with  the  Scriptures."—^  Prcescr.  n.  37.  See  the 
context,  under  "  Private  Judgment." 

"  Who  shall  understand  the  marrow  of  Scripture  better  than 
the  school  of  Christ  itself,  whom  the  Lord  hath  adopted  as  His 
disciples,  namely,  to  be  taught  all  things,  and  set  as  masters 
over  us,  namely,  to  teach  all  things  ?  "—ticorpiace,  n.  12,p.  497. 

CENTURY    III. 

ORIGEN,  G.  C.—  See  the  first,  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  ex 
tracts  given  under  "  Authority?  ' 

"  After  having  thus,  as  it  were  in  passing,  spoken  on  the 
inspiration  of  the  divine  writings,  it  is  necessary  to  address 
myself  to  the  manner  of  reading  and  of  interpreting  them  ; 
most  errors  having  arisen  from  the  many  not  having  found 
the  way  in  which  it  is  necessary  to  proceed  with  the  sacred 
lecture.  ...  To  those  who  are  convinced  that  the  sacred  books 
are  not  the  composition  of  men,  but  that,  by  the  inspiration 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  the  will  of  the  Father,  they  have  been 
written,  and  have  come  down  to  us,  we  must  point  out  the 
manifest  ways  (of  interpretation)  to  those  who  hold  to  the  rule 
(canon)  of  the  heavenly  Church  of  Christ,  according  to  the 
succession  from  (of)  the  Apostles.1  And  that,  indeed,  there 


S  TOV  xavdroS  TTJ$  'fydov  xP^rov  Hard  dtadoxrfv  T&V 
aTto6ro\^v  ovpaviov  EKutytias.  It  may  be  useful  to  give  a  summary 
of  Ongen's  view  of  the  nature  of  Scriptural  interpretation;  of  the  grounds 
on  which  he  received  the  Scriptures  as  canonical  ;  and  of  the  rule  of  faith. 
1.  According  to  him  there  is  a  literal,  a  moral,  and  a  mystical,  meaning  in 


340  THE  CHURCH 

are  certain  mystical  dispensations  indicated  throughout  the 
divine  writings,  all,  even  the  most  simple  of  those  who  have 
made  progress  in  the  word,  have  believed :  but  what  those 
(dispensations)  are,  the  humble  and  the  upright  confess  that 
they  know  not."— T.  i.  De  Prindp.pp.  164-6. 

"  Let  Basilides,  and  whosoever  agrees  with  him,  be  left  in 
their  impiety.  But  for  us,  let  us  turn  to  the  meaning  of  the 
Apostle,  according  to  the  piety  of  the  ecclesiastical  doctrine." '' 
—T.  iv.  In  Ep.  ad  Rom.  1.  5,  p.  349. 

Scripture  (T.  i.  I.  iv.  De  Princip.  p.  168).  2.  One  only  of  those  meanings  is 
to  be  found  in  some  passages,  whilst  others  are  both  literal  and  mystical. 
3.  The  literal  meaning  suffices  for  the  ordinary  reader.  4.  And  yet  he  as 
serts  that  every  book,  both  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  presents,  if 
taken  in  a  literal  sense,  what  is  false,  absurd,  and  even  impossible  (Ibid.  n. 
15,  16,  18,  t.  iii.  Horn.  vi.  in  I*,  et  passim).  5.  It  is  difficult,  not  to  say 
impossible,  to  discover  clearly  the  mystical  sense  of  Scripture  (De  Princ.  I. 
iv.  n.  9),  and,  as  a  general  rule,  the  Scriptures  are  replete  with  difficulties 
and  obscurity  (T.  i.  Fray.  x.  Strom,  p.  41;  De  Princ.  I.  iv.  n.  7;  t.  ii.  Horn. 
xxvii.  in  Num.  pp.  374-5).  6.  From  a  passage  in  his  Third  Book  ayainst 
Celaus,  n.  15,  pp.  456-7,  it  seems  that  the  New  Testament  was  not  allowed  to 
be  read  by  all  indiscriminately,  but  was  "carefully  delivered  to  those  who 
were  capable  of  understanding  with  prudence."  7.  From  the  passages 
quoted  in  the  text,  and  when  treating  of  the  "  Authority  of  the  Church,"  it 
is  clear  that  Origen's  standard  of  truth  and  rule  for  discriminating  between 
the  doctrines  of  Christ  and  the  false  interpretations  and  the  errors  of 
heretics  is,  that  the  truth  always  accords  with  the  teaching  and  tradition  of 
the  Church;  whilst  that  teaching,  tradition,  and  interpretation,  can  alone 
be  accounted  genuine  and  divine,  which  has  been  transmitted  by  an  unin 
terrupted  succession  from  the  Apostles.  8.  In  his  Letter  to  Africanus  he 
puts  forward  the  consent  of  the  churches  as  evidencing  the  canonicity  of 
the  books  of  Scripture,  and  the  absence  of  that  consent  he,  in  numerous  in 
stances,  urges  as  rendering  doubtful,  or  null,  the  claims  of  many  writings 
to  be  received  into  the  canon.  (See,  for  one  instance  out  of  many  similar 
examples,  the  fragment  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  given  at  the  end  of 
his  works,  in  the  fourth  volume.)  The  following  is  a  specimen  of  Origen's 
language,  when  speaking  of  a  merely  literal  interpretation  of  the  words  of 
Scripture:  "If  we  abide  by  the  letter,  and  take  what  is  written  in  the  law 
according  as,  whether  by  the  Jews  or  by  the  great  bulk  of  men  it  is  under 
stood,  I  blush  to  declare  and  confess,  that  God  should  have  given  such 
laws.  For  human  laws,  for  example,  those  of  the  Romans,  or  of  the 
Athenians,  or  of  the  Lacedemonians,  will  be  seen  to  be  more  elegant  and 
rational.  But  if  the  law  of  God  be  taken  according  to  that  sense  which  the 
Church  teaches  (secundum  hanc  intelligentiam,  quam  docet  ecclesia)  then 
will  it  be  plainly  pre-eminent  above  all  human  laws,  and  be  believed  to  be 
truly  the  law  of  God." — T.  ii.  Horn.  vii.  in  Levit.  n.  5,  p.  226. 

5  Apostoli  sensum  secundum  pietatem  ecclesiastici  dogmatis  advertamus. 


THE  EXPOUNDER  OF  SCRIPTURE.  341 

CENTURY    IV. 

ST.  HILARY,  L.  C.—  Explaining  /St.  Matthew  xiii.  1  :  "  The 
reason  why  the  Lord  sat  in  the  ship,  and  the  crowds  stood 
without,  is  derived  from  the  subject-matter.  For  He  was  about 
to  speak  in  parables  ;  and  by  this  kind  of  action  He  signifies 
that  they  who  are  placed  without  the  Church,  cannot  attain  to 
any  understanding  of  the  divine  word.  For  the  ship  exhibits 
a  type  of  the  Church,  the  word  of  life  placed  and  preached 
within  which,  they  who  are  without,  and  lie  near  like  barren 
and  useless  sands,  cannot  understand."  —  Comment,  in  Matth. 
c.  xiii.  n.  i.  p.  Y34.  See  also  the  synodal  epistle  of  the  Council 
of  Ariminum,  given  from  St.  Hilary,  under  "Apostolicity" 

ST.  ATHANASIUS,  G.  C.  —  Vindicating  certain  texts  of  Scrip 
ture  from  the  misinterpretations  of  the  Arians,  he  says,  "  This 
then  I  consider  the  sense  of  this  passage,  and  that  a  very 
ecclesiastical  sense."  '  —  Orat.  i.  Contra  Arian.  n.  44,  t.  i.  p.  353. 
See  also  the  quotation  given  under  the  head  "  Private  Judg 
ment" 

ST.  EPIPHANIUS,  G.  C.  —  "  Whatsoever  God  says  is  true, 
although  in  a  few  declarations  His  meaning  is  not  attained  to 
by  our  understanding.  To  deny,  therefore,  that  man  was  made 
to  the  image  of  God  is  not  according  to  the  faith,  nor  the  holy 
Church  of  God.  For  undoubtedly  every  soul  is  clearly  made 
after  that  image,  and  none  who  have  their  hopes  God-  ward 
will  deny  this  ;  none  but  they  who  framing  fables  for  them 
selves,  are  excluded  from  the  Church,  and  the  tradition  of  the 
fathers,  from  the  prophets,  and  the  law,2  the  Apostles  and  the 
Evangelists.  As,  then,  these  men  are,  in  this  matter,  of  too 
contentious  a  disposition,  they  also  go  out  of  that  tradition 
which  is  accordant  with  ecclesiastical  teaching,3  which  tradi 
tion  holds  that  every  human  being  is  made  after  that  image, 


Kal  fj.d\a  kKKXrjtiiatiTiKrfv  ovtfar. 


rtf?  tKxtydia?,  nal  Trjt  TGOY  narepoov  kn  Ttpocprj- 
re  nal  vofjiov  .  .  .  rtapadodSGoS. 

3  'EKTOS  nai  avrol  flaivovdi  TTJS  Hard  rr^v  kKK\.r^ia6riHrjv 
6iv 


342  THE  CHURCH 

but  determines  not  in  what  that  image  consists."  —  Adv.  Jlceres. 
(70)  p.  813. 

Having  mentioned  Origen's  asserted  errors  concerning 
Christ,  and  those  of  the  Yalentinians,  &c.,  he  says  :  "  The 
Scripture  is  in  every  way  true.  But  there  needs  wisdom  to 
know  God,  to  believe  Him  and  His  words,  and  what  He  has 
vouchsafed  unto  us.  ...  For  every  heresy  is  a  deceiver, 
not  having  received  the  Holy  Ghost,  according  to  the  tradi 
tion  of  the  fathers  in  the  holy  Catholic  Church  of  God."  ' 
T.  ii.  Ancor.  n.  63,  jy.  66. 

ST.  CYRIL  OF  JERUSALEM,  G.  C.  —  "  But  take  thou  and  hold 
as  a  learner,  and  in  profession,  that  faith  only  which  is  now 
delivered  to  thee  by  the  Church,  and  is  fenced  round  out  of 
all  the  Scriptures,"  <fec.,  as  given  under  "Authority" 

ST.  DAMASUS,  POPE,  L.  C.  —  "  We  have  indeed  confidence, 
that  your  holiness,  grounded  on  the  instruction  given  by  the 
Apostles,  holds  fast,  and  teaches  to  the  people  that  faith  which 
in  nothing  differs  from  the  institutes  of  our  forefathers,"  &c., 
as  given  under  "Authority" 

St.  JEROME,  L.  C.  —  "  They  (heretics)  are  cut  off  from  the 
body  of  the  Church,  and  affect  to  meditate  and  to  muse  on  the 
law  of  the  Lord.  But  doing  this  they  withdraw  from  the 
Lord  who  taught  them  in  the  Church,"  &c.,  as  given  under 
"Authority"  from  T.  vi.  I.  ii.  Cornm.  in  Osee.  See  also 
"  Private  Judgment" 

CENTURY    V. 

ST.  AUGUSTINE,  L.  C.  —  u  When  we  read  the  divine  books, 
amidst  such  a  multitude  of  true  meanings,  which  are  ex 
tracted  from  a  few  words,  and  (which  meanings)  are  de- 


1  Kara  rrjv  7ta.pd8o6iv  rear  itctTSpoov  kv  Ty  dyia  rov  Ssov 

£HKXrj6ia.  "  They  of  whom  he  says  that  they  have  their  thoughts 
mutually  accusing  or  defending  one  another  in  the  days  of  God's  judgment, 
are  those  Christians  who  differ  from  Catholic  truth,  having  discordant  sen 
timents  concerning  Christ,  or  concerning  the  sense  of  the  law  in  the  tradi 
tion  of  the  Church  (de  sensu  legis  in  traditione  ecclesiae)  ;  be  they  Cataphry- 
gians,  or  Novatians,  or  Donatists,  or  the  rest  of  the  heretics."  —  The  author 
of  the  Comment,  in  Epist.  Pauli,  inter  Op.  S.  Ambrosii,  t.  ii.  p.  39,  In  Ep. 
ad  Romanos. 


THE  EXPOUNDER   OF  SCRIPTURE.  343 

fended  by  the  soundness  of  Catholic  faith/  let  us  by  preference 
choose  that  which  it  shall  appear  certain  that  he  meant  whom 
we  read ;  but  if  this  escape  us,  that  at  all  events  which  the 
context  of  Scripture  prevents  not,  and  which  harmonizes  with 
sound  faith ;  but  if  the  context  of  the  Scripture  also  admits 
not  of  being  thoroughly  handled  and  sifted,  at  least  that  only 
which  sound  faith  prescribes.  For  it  is  one  thing  not  to  dis 
tinguish  what  the  writer  chiefly  meant,  and  another  to  err 
from  the  rule  of  piety.9  If  both  be  avoided,  the  reader  ob 
tains  the  perfect  fruit ;  but  if  both  cannot  be  avoided,  even 
though  the  mind  of  the  writer  be  doubtful  (to  us),  it  is  not 
useless  to  have  extracted  a  meaning  agreeable  with  the  sacred 
faith."  8— T.  iii.  1.  i.  De  Genes,  ad  Lit.  n.  41,  col.  222. 

[Having  cited  one  of  the  usual  evidences  of  Christianity,  he 
adds  :]  "  When  therefore  we  see  such  aid  from  God,  so  great 
progress  and  fruit,  shall  we  hesitate  to  fling  ourselves  into  the 
bosom  of  that  Church  which,  even  by  the  confession  of  man 
kind,  has  from  the  apostolic  see,  through  successions  of  bishops, 
obtained  the  loftiest  pinnacle  of  authority,  the  heretics  barking 
around  in  vain,  and  condemned  partly  by  the  judgment  of  the 
very  people,  partly  by  the  weight  of  councils,  partly  also  by 
the  majesty  of  miracles.  To  which  Church  to  refuse  to  grant 
pre-eminent  authority,  is  assuredly  either  the  height  of  im- 

1  Et  sanitate  catholicas  fidei  muniuntur. 

2  Aliud  autem  a  regula  veritatis  errare. 

3  Sanaa  fidei  congruam  non   inutile  est   eruisse   sententiam.      Having 
sketched  the  Manichaean  theory,  he  says:  "  Who  would  not  execrate  these 
things?    Who  would  not  understand  them  to  be  impious  and  abominable? 
But  they,  when  they  catch  men,  do  not  utter  these  things  at  first,  which,  if 
they  did  utter  they  would  be  laughed  at,  or  avoided  by  all :  but  they  choose 
passages  out  of  the  Scriptures,  which  simple  men  do  not  understand,  and  by 
them  deceive  unskilful  souls,  asking  '  Whence  is  evil  ?'  .  .  .  that  when  he  can 
not  answer,  he  may  be  led  over  by  them  by  curiosity ;  for  every  unlearned  soul 
is  curious.     But  whoever  has  learnt  well  the  Catholic  faith,  and  is  defended 
by  good  morals  and  true  piety,  though  he  know  not  their  heresy,  yet  does 
he  answer  them.     For  neither  can  he  be  deceived  who  has  already  learnt 
what  belongs  to  the  Christian  faith,  which  is  called  Catholic,  spread  over 
the  whole  world,  and  is,  under  the  governance  of  the  Lord,  safe  against  all 
ungodly  and  sinners,   yea,   and    her  own  careless  members." — T.   vi.  De 
Agone  Christiana,  n.  4,  pp.  421-2. 


344  THE  CHURCH 

piety,  or  of  headlong  arrogance.1  For,  if  for  the  minds  of 
men  there  is  no  certain  road  to  wisdom  and  salvation,  save 
when  faith  teaches  them  antecedently  to  reason,  what  else  is  it 
but  to  be  ungrateful  to  the  divine  aid  and  help,  to  strive  so 
laboriously  to  resist  the  aforenamed  authority  ?  And  if  every 
art,  however  low  and  easy,  require  a  teacher  or  a  master,  that 
it  may  be  acquired  ;  what  more  replete  with  rash  pride  than 
both  to  refuse  to  learn  the  books  of  the  divine  mysteries 
(sacraments)  from  their  proper  (own)  interpreters,  and  to  seek 
to  condemn  them  unknown  ? a  Wherefore,  if  either  my  rea 
soning  or  my  prayer  has  in  any  way  moved  you,  and  if,  as  I 
believe,  you  have  a  true  solicitude  for  yourself,  I  pray  you 
hear  me,  and  place  yourself,  with  pious  faith,  lively  hope, 
simple  love,  under  the  care  of  good  teachers  of  Catholic 
Christianity."— T.  viii.  De  UtlL  Cred.  n.  35,  36  (al.  xvii.  xviii.), 
col.  129-30. 

"  I  would  not  believe  the  Gospel,  unless  the  authority  of  the 
Catholic  Church  moved  me,"  tfcc.,  as  given  under  "A  uthority" 

"If  he  (Manichaeus)  say  that  these  (sacred  books  of  ours)  are 
corrupted,  he  will  impugn  the  faith  of  his  own  witnesses  ; 
whereas  if  he  bring  forward  other  works,  and  assert  them  to 
be  by  our  Apostles,  by  what  means  will  he  give  them  an  au 
thority,  which  he  has  not  received  through  the  churches  of 
Christ,  founded  by  those  same  Apostles,  that  thence,  with  an 
assured  commendation,  it  might  now  onward  to  their  successors 
(or  to  posterity)  ?  .  .  .  Against  you  is  the  authority  of  our 
books,  an  authority  confirmed  by  the  agreement  of  so  many 
nations,  through  successions  of  Apostles,  of  bishops,  and  of 
councils ;  whilst  that  of  your  books  is  none,  seeing  that  it  is 
maintained  by  so  few,  and  by  men  who  worship  a  mendacious 
God,  and  a  mendacious  Christ." — T.  viii.  I.  xiii.  Contr.  Faust, 
n.  4,  5,  col.  413-14. 

1  QUEB  (ecclesia)  usque  ad  confessionem  generis  humani  ab  apostolica  sede 
per  successiones  episcoporum  .  .  .  culmen  auctoritatis  obtinuit?    Cui  nolle 
priinas  dare,  vel  summae  profeeto  irapietatis  est,  vel  pra^cipitis  arrogantise. 

2  Quid  temerari*  superbia?  plenius,  quam  divinorura  sacramentorum  lib- 
ros,  et  ab  interpretatibus  suis  nolle  cognoscere,  et  incognitos  velle  dainnare? 


THE  EXPOUNDER  OF  SCRIPTURE.  345 

"Thou  wilt  instantly  say  that  this  narrative  (of  Christ's 
birth)  is  not  by  Matthew,  though  it  is  declared  to  be  Matthew's 
by  the  universal  Church,  which  has  been  brought  down,  by  an 
undoubted  succession,  from  the  sees  of  the  Apostles  even 
to  the  present  bishops.  Are  you  about  to  read  to  me  some 
thing  to  the  contrary  ?  Some  books  perchance  by  Manichgeus, 
wherein  Jesus  is  denied  to  have  been  born  of  the  Virgin.  As, 
then,  I  believe  that  book  to  be  by  Manichseus,  because,  from 
the  time  that  Manichseus  lived  in  the  flesh,  it  has  been  pre 
served  and  brought  down,  by  means  of  his  disciples,  by  an  un 
doubted  succession  of  your  rulers  to  your  days ;  so,  in  like 
manner,  do  you  believe  this  book  to  be  Matthew's,  a  book 
which,  from  the  time  that  Matthew  was  living  in  the  flesh,  the 
Church,  through  an  uninterrupted  series  of  ages,  by  an  un 
doubted  and  connected  succession,  has  brought  down,  even  to 
these  days.  .  .  .  But,  perhaps,  you  will  produce  some  other 
book,  which  bears  the  name  of  some  Apostle,  whom  Christ 
undoubtedly  chose,  and  will  therein  read  to  me,  that  Christ 
was  not  born  of  Mary.  Now  as  one  of  these  books  must 
needs  be  mendacious,  to  which,  do  you  think,  we  ought,  in 
preference,  to  give  faith  ?  To  that  which  that  Church  which 
was  begun  by  Christ  Himself,  and  propagated  by  the  Apostles, 

by  an  undoubted  series  of  successions  even  to  these  our  days, 

which  Church  has  been  spread  throughout  the  whole  world, — 
acknowledges  and  approves  of  as  having  been  transmitted 
and  preserved  from  the  very  beginning  ?  or,  to  that  which 
that  same  Church  repudiates  as  unknown  to  her1 — even 
though  it  be  produced  by  men  so  truthful,  as  to  make  it  mat 
ter  of  praise  in  Christ  that  he  was  a  deceiver  ? " — Hid.  I. 
xxviii.  Contr.  Faust,  n.  2,  col.  675-6. 

COUNCIL  OF  MILEVIS,  L.  C. — This  council,  which  was  held 
in  the  year  416,  having  treated  of  original  sin,  and  the  baptism 

1  Cui  nos  potius  censes  fidem  accommodare  debere?  Eine  quern  ilia 
ecclesia  ab  ipso  Christo  inchoata,  et  per  apostolos  provecta  certa  succes- 
siormm  serie  usque  ad  haec  tempora  toto  terrarum  orbe  dilatata,  ab  initio 
traditum  et  conservatum  agnoscit  atque  approbat ;  an  ei  quern  eadem 
ecclesia  incognitum  reprobat  ? 


[}46  THE  CHURCH 

of  infants,  defines  :  "  That  wliicli  the  Apostle  says,  By  one  man 
sin  entered  into  the  world,  and  by  sin  death :  and  so  death 
passed  upon  all  men  in  whom  all  have  sinned  (Rom.  v.),  is  not 
to  be  understood  otherwise  than  as  the  Catholic  Church,  spread 
everywhere,  has  always  understood  it.  For  on  account  of  this 
rule,  even  infants,  who  could  not  as  yet  commit  any  sins  of 
themselves,  are  therefore  truly  baptized  for  the  remission  of 
sins,  that  what  they  derived  from  generation  may  be  cleansed 
in  them  by  regeneration." — Can.  ii.  col.  1538,  t.  ii.  Labb. 

ST.  INNOCENT  I.,  POPE. — "  Wherefore  it  is  not  lawful  for 
any  one  to  interpret  the  divine  Scriptures,  otherwise  than  as 
right  reason  permits  .  .  .  but  those  things  are  to  be  held, 
which  the  series  of  the  divine  Scriptures  contains,  and  have 
been  usefully  determined  by  the  priests." — Ad  Synod,  in 
Tolet.  Civil,  n.  6,  col.  1278,  1.  ii.  Labb.  Concil. 

THEODOTUS  OF  ANCYRA,  G.  C.— "  I  have  thus  laid  before  you 
a  sufficient  refutation  of  the  errors  of  these  men,  not  from  my 
own  resources,  and  from  myself,  but,  both  out  of  the  divine 
Scripture,  and  from  the  faith  set  down  by  the  holy  fathers 
who  assembled  at  Nicaea." — Expos.  Symb.  in  fine,  n.  24,  t.  ix. 
Galland,  p.  439. 

ST.  CYRIL  OF  ALEXANDRIA,  G.  C. — "  He  (Nestorius)  holds 
even  to  this  day  the  things  which  he  has  taught  from  the  first ; 
and  he  ceases  not  to  utter  his  perversities.  But  let  your 
holiness  know  this  also,  that  the  language  of  all  the  bishops 
here  in  the  East  is  uniform,  and  especially  that  of  the  most 
religious  bishops  throughout  Macedonia :  and  although  he 
knows  this,  he  thinks  himself  wiser  than  all ;  and  that  he 
alone  understands  the  scope  of  the  inspired  Scripture,  and  the 
mystery  of  Christ.  Yet  how  ought  he  not  much  rather  be 
certified  that  whereas  all  the  orthodox  bishops  and  laymen 
throughout  the  world  confess  both  that  Christ  was  God,  and 
that  the  Virgin  that  bore  Him  was  the  mother  of  God,  he  alone 
is  in  error  who  denies  this  ?  But  he  is  swollen  with  pride," 
&c.—Ep.  ad  Cmlestin.  vol.  344,  t.  iii.  Labi.  See  also  the  ex 
tracts  under  "  Tradition** 


THE  EXPOUNDER  OF  SCRIPTURE.  347 

THEODOKET,  G.  C. — "  But  let  us  proceed  onwards,  and  come 
to  the  confession  of  the  holy  fathers ;  we,  throughout  obeying 
the  evangelic  and  apostolic  dogmas,  in  accordance  with  the 
tradition  of  the  holy  fathers,  believe  in  the  God-Word,"  &C.1— 
T.  iv.  Lilell.  Contr.  Nestor,  p.  1046. 

"  These  things  (adverse  to  Nestorius),  have  we  learned  both 
from  the  holy  Scripture,  and  from  the  holy  fathers  who  have 
interpreted  it,  Alexander  and  Athanasius,  those  illustrious 
heralds  of  the  truth  who  have  adorned  that  your  apostolic 
throne,  and  from  Basil  and  Gregory  and  the  other  lights  of 
the  world." — T.  iv.  Epist.  Ixxxiii.  Dioscoro,  Alex.  Archiep. 
p.  1150. 

"  Let,  therefore,  your  friendliness  vouchsafe, — if  there  be 
any  at  all  (for  I  do  not  believe  there  are  such)  who  yield  not 
assent  to  the  apostolic  dogmas, — to  close  their  lips,  and  to 
bring  them  back  to  a  sound  way  of  thinking  in  an  ecclesias 
tical  manner,2  and  to  teach  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  the 
holy  fathers,  and  to  preserve  inviolate  the  faith  which  was  laid 
down  at  Nicaea  in  Bithynia,  by  the  holy  and  blessed  fathers." 
— T.  iv.  Ep.  Ixxxiv.  Episcopis  CUidm,  p.  1153. 

"  These  things  have  been  transmitted  to  us,  not  only  by  the 
Apostles  and  prophets,  but  also  by  those  who  have  interpreted 
their  writings,  by  Ignatius,  Eustathius,  Athanasius,  &c.,  and 
the  other  lights  of  the  universe,  and  before  these,  by  the  holy 
fathers  who  assembled  at  Nicaea,  whose  confession  of  faith  we 
keep  as  a  paternal  inheritance,  and  we  call  those  who  dare 
transgress  against  the  above,  adulterate,  and  enemies  of  the 
truth."— I7,  iv.  Epist.  Ixxxix.  Florentio,  p.  1160. 

"  We  adhere  to  the  apostolic  decrees  and  laws,  and  applying 
that  faith  which  was  laid  down  at  Nicsea,  by  the  holy  and 
blessed  fathers,  as  a  kind  of  canon,  and  gnomon  to  our  words, 
we  so  direct  our  teaching  " 3—  T.  iv.  Ep.  xc.  Lupicino.  p.  1161. 

1  Kara  rr^v  Tfapddodiv  rtSv  dyioov  Ttarepaov. 

9  ^KHkrj6ia(5riK^  ti&cppovitiai. 

3  Oiov  riva.  -KCLVOVOL  yta.1  yvw/j-ova  roil  hoyoiZ  itpotifpepovTeZ  rrjv 


348  THE  CHURCH 

See  also  Ib.  Ep.  xciv.  Protogen.  p.  1165  ;   ibid.  Ep.  cxxx. 
Timotheo  Ep.  p.  1214;  et  passim. 

VLNCENTIUS  OF  LERINS,  L.  C. — See  numerous  passages  on 
this  subject  under  "Authority"  and  "Private  Judgment" 
where  also  the  context  of  the  following  extract  will  be  found  : 

"  But  some  one  may  say,  If  both  the  devil  and  his  disciples, 
whereof  some  are  false  apostles,  and  false  prophets,  and  false 
teachers,  and  all  utterly  heretics,  do  use  the  divine  sayings, 
sentences,  and  promises,  what  shall  Catholic  men,  and  sons  of 
our  mother  the  Church,  do  ?     In  what  way  shall  they,  in  the 
holy  Scriptures,  discern  truth  from  falsehood  ?     They  will,  to 
wit,  take  very  great  care  to  do  that  which,  in  the  beginning  of 
this  Commonitory,  we  have  said  that  holy  and   learned  men 
had  delivered  to  us— that  they  interpret  the  divine  Scripture 
(canon)  according  to  the  traditions  of  the  universal   Church, 
and    according  to  the  rules    of   Catholic   doctrine.     Within 
which  very  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church  it  is  necessary  for 
them  to  follow   universality,  antiquity,  consent.     And  if  at 
any  time  a  part  have  rebelled  against  universality,   novelty 
against  antiquity,  the  dissent  of  one  or  of  a  few  fallen  into 
error  against  the  consent  of  all,  or  at  all  events   of  by  far 
the  greater  number  of  Catholics,  let  them  prefer  the  integrity 
of  universality  to  the  corruption   of  a  part ; '   in   which  same 
universality,  let  them  prefer  the  religion  of  antiquity  before 
the  profaneness  of  novelty  ;  and  likewise,  in  antiquity  itself, 
let  them  prefer,  before  the  rashness  of  one,  or  of  a  very  few, 
first  of  all,  the  general  decrees,  if  there  be  any,  of  a  universal 
council ;  next,  if  such  a  thing  be  not,  let  them  follow  that 
which  is  nearest  to  it,  that  is,  the  sentiments  of  many  and  great 
masters  agreeing  together;  which  things,   with   God's  help, 
faithfully,  soberly,  carefully  observed,  we  shall,  without  any 

1  Ut  divinuni  canonera  secundura  universalis  ecclesiae  traditiones,  et  juxta 
Catholic!  dogmatis  regulas  interpretentur.  In  qua  item  Catholica  et  apos- 
tolica  ecclesia  sequantur  necesse  est  universitatem,  antiquitatem,  consensi- 
onem.  Et  si  quando  pars  contra  universitatem,  novitas  contra  vetustatem, 
unius  vel  paucorum  errantium  dissensio  contra  omnium  vel  certe  multo 
plurium  Catholicorum  consensionem  rebellaverit,  prseferant  partis  corrup 
tion!  universitatis  integritatem. 


THE  EXPOUNDER  OF  SCRIPTURE.  349 

great  difficulty,  detect  all  the  mischievous  errors  of  heretics  as 
they  arise.  Here,  I  perceive,  that  it  followeth  in  order,  that 
I  show  by  examples  in  what  manner  the  profane  novelties  of 
heretics  are  both  detected  and  condemned,  by  bringing  forward 
and  collating  the  sentiments  of  the  old  masters  agreeing  to 
gether  ;  which  ancient  consent,  however,  of  holy  fathers,  is 
not  with  great  earnestness  to  be  investigated  and  followed,  in 
all  trifling  questions  of  the  divine  law,  but  only,  or  at  least 
principally,  in  the  rule  of  faith.1  But  neither  at  all  times,  nor 
all  heresies,  are  to  be  contended  with  after  this  sort,  but  only 
the  new  and  the  recent,  when,  to  wit,  they  first  arise,  and  be 
fore,  as  hindered  by  the  shortness  of  time,  they  have  falsified 
the  rules  of  the  old  faith,  and  before  that,  the  poison  spread 
ing  farther,  they  attempt  to  corrupt  the  writings  of  the 
fathers.  .  .  .  "Wherefore,  when  the  corruption  of  any  evil  error 
beginneth  to  burst  forth,  and,  for  its  defence,  begins  to  steal 
certain  words  of  the  sacred  law,  and  to  expound  them  falla 
ciously  and  fraudulently,  straightways,  for  interpreting  the 
Scripture  (canon),  the  sentiments  of  the  fathers  are  to  be 
gathered  together,2  by  which  that  whatsoever  novel,  and  there 
fore  profane  thing,  which  may  arise,  may  both  be,  without 
any  shift,  detected,  and  without  any  reclamation  condemned. 
But  the  sentiments  of  those  fathers  only  are  to  be  collated, 
who  holily,  wisely,  constantly  living,  teaching,  and  abiding  in 
the  Catholic  faith  and  communion,  either  merited  to  die  in 
Christ  faithfully,  or  to  be  slain  for  Christ  happily.  Whom, 
however,  we  are  to  believe  in  this  binding  manner,3  that  what 
soever  either  all,  or  the  greater  part,  with  one  and  the  same 
mind  plainly,  frequently,  unswervingly,  as  in  a  kind  of  coun 
cil  of  teachers  agreeing  together,  have  confirmed  by  receiving, 

1  Quae  tamen  antiqua  sanctorum  Patrura  consensio,  non  in  omnibus  di- 
vinae  legis  quaestiunculis,  sed  solum  vel  certe  praecipue  in  fidei  regula  magno 
nobis  studio  et  investiganda  est,  et  sequenda. 

2  Statim   interpretando  canoni   majorum  sententiae  congregandae  sunt, 
quibiis  illud  quodcunque  exsurgat  novitium,  ideoque  prophanum,  et  absque 
ulla  ambage  prodatur,  et  sine  ulla  retractatione  (delay)  damnetur. 

3  Hac  lege. 


350       THE  CHURCH  THE  EXPOUNDER  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

holding  and  delivering  it,  let  that  be  held  for  a  thing  un 
doubted,  certain  and  settled."  '  For  continuation,  see  '*  Tra 
dition" 

"  We  have  said,  in  what  is  gone  before,  that  this  always  has 
been,  and  also  at  this  day  is,  the  custom  of  Catholics,  to  ap 
prove  the  true  faith  in  these  two  ways  :  first,  by  the  authority 
of  the  divine  Scripture  (canon)  ;  secondly,  by  the  tradition  of 
the  Catholic  Church  : a  not  because  the  canon  alone  is  not  suf 
ficient  of  itself  for  all  things,  but  because  very  many  interpret 
ing  the  divine  words  according  to  their  own  pleasure,  conceive 
various  opinions  and  errors  ;  and  for  this  cause  it  is  necessary 
that  the  interpretation  of  the  heavenly  Scripture  be  directed 
according  to  the  one  rule  of  the  ecclesiastical  sense,3  in  those 
questions,  to  wit,  especially  upon  which  the  foundations  of  the 
whole  Catholic  doctrine  do  depend." — Adv.  Jlceres.  n.  xxix. 

ST.  LEO,  POPE,  L.  C. — "  It  is  not  lawful  to  differ,  even  by 
one  word,  from  the  evangelic  and  apostolic  doctrine,  or  to 
think  otherwise  concerning  the  divine  Scriptures  than  as  the 
blessed  Apostles,  and  our  fathers  learned  and  taught." — Ep. 
Ixxxii.  ad  Marcion.  Aug.  p.  1044.  See  also  Ep.  Ixxxix.  un 
der  "  Authority." 

ARNOBIUS  JUNIOR,  L.  C. — See  the  extract,  under  "Autho 
rity"  from  Comm.  in  Ps.  ciii.  t.  viii.  Bill.  Max. 

SALONIUS,  L.  C. — See  " Authority" 

COUNCIL  OF  CHALCEDON,  G.  C.— "  He  (Eutyches)  declared 
himself  ready  to  agree  to  the  expositions  of  the  holy  fathers 
who  constituted  the  synod  at  Nicsea  and  Ephesus ;  and  he  pro 
fessed  that  he  subscribed  to  their  interpretations  ;  but  if  it  any 
where  happened  that  something  in  certain  of  their  expressions 
was  erroneous  or  mistaken,  this  he  neither  blamed  nor  re 
ceived  ;  but  that  he  searched  the  Scriptures  alone,  as  being 
firmer  than  the  statement  of  the  fathers." — T.  iv.  Labb.  col. 

1  Id  pro  indubitato,  certo,  ratoque  habeatur, 

1  Ut  fidera  veram  duobus  his  modis  approbent.  Priraum  divini  canonis 
auctoritate,  deinde  ecclesiae  Catholica?  traditione. 

3  Ut  ad  unam  ecclesiastic!  sensus  regulam  scripture  coelestis  intelligentia 
dirigatur. 


PRIVATE  JUDGMENT.  351 

194.  So  also,  earlier  in  the  same  vol.  col.  131,  where  he 
quotes,  in  confirmation  of  this  his  determination,  the  words, 
Search  the  Scriptures.  In  col.  195,  he  is  accordingly  con 
demned  as  having  opinions  "  in  opposition  to  the  expositions 
of  the  fathers."  So  again,  col.  206,  he  is  exhorted  to  repent, 
"  and  to  give  security  for  the  future  to  the  holy  synod,  that  he 
thinks  in  accordance  with  the  expositions  of  our  holy  fathers, 
and  that  he  will  not,  for  the  future,  either  teach  others,  nor 
converse  with  any  one,  beyond  (or,  contrary  to)  those  exposi 
tions."  1 

FELIX  III.,  L.  C. — "  This  (heretic)  has  dared  to  say  that  we 
ought  not  to  call  Christ  the  Son  of  God,  though  this  be  agree 
able  to  the  divine  appointment  of  the  Saviour,  and  the  tradi 
tion  of  the  divine  Scriptures,  and  the  expositions  of  the 
fathers." — Epist.  Zenoni,p.  1071,  t.  ii.  Labi. 

The  reader  will  find  other  extracts  of  a  similar  nature  under 
the  next  section ;  as  also  under  the  preceding  sections,  espe^ 
daily  under  "  The  Authority  of  the  Church"  " ludefecti- 
bility"  and  "Apoatolicify" 


PRIVATE  JUDGMENT. 


SCRIPTURE. 

Matt,  xviii.  17.  —  "  If  he  will  not  hear  the  Church,  let  him  be 
to  thee  as  a  heathen  and  publican."  See  also  Acts  xv.  ;  xx.  28. 

1  Cor.  xii.  28,  29.  —  "  And  God  indeed  hath  set  some  in  the 
Church,  first  Apostles,  secondly  prophets,  thirdly  doctors.  .  .  . 
Are  all  Apostles  ?  are  all  prophets  ?  are  all  doctors  ?  "  See  also 
Romans  x.  15,  17. 

Ephes.  iv.  11-14.  —  "  And  He  gave  some  Apostles,  and  some 


1  "On  itep  o/uoz'ca?  (ppovsi  rcCiS  txQedstii  rear  dyiGov  Ttarspcov 
nal  Ttapd  ravraS  rov  hontov  ovrs  didddnst  rival,    ovde  nvi  dta\e- 
yerai. 


352  PRIVATE  JUDGMENT. 

prophets,  and  other  some  evangelists,  and  other  some  pastors 
and  doctors ;  for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints,  for  the  work  of 
the  ministry,  for  the  edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ :  until  we 
all  meet  into  the  unity  of  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
Son  of  God,  unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  age 
of  the  fulness  of  Christ :  that  henceforth  we  be  no  more  chil 
dren  tossed  to  and  fro,  and  carried  about  with  every  wind  of 
doctrine  by  the  wickedness  of  men,  by  cunning  craftiness  by 
which  they  lie  in  wait  to  deceive."  See  also  Heb.  xiii.  7,  17. 
2  Peter  iii.  15-17. — "As  also  our  most  dear  brother  Paul, 
according  to  the  wisdom  given  him,  hath  written  to  you :  as 
also  in  all  his  epistles,  speaking  in  them  of  these  things :  in 
which  are  certain  things  hard  to  be  understood,  which  the  un 
learned  and  unstable  wrest,  as  they  do  also  the  other  Scrip 
tures,  to  their  own  destruction.  You,  therefore,  brethren, 
knowing  these  things  before,  take  heed,  lest  being  led  aside  by 
the  error  of  the  unwise,  you  fall  from  your  own  steadfastness." 


THE  FATHERS. 


CENTURY    II. 


ST.  IREN^EUS,  L.  C.  —  u  Such  things,  therefore,  do  they  all 
say  regarding  their  pleroma,  perverting  those  things  which 
(in  the  Scriptures)  are  well  said,  to  apply  them  to  their  evil 
inventions.1  And  not  merely  from  the  evangelical  and  apos 
tolical  writings  do  they  attempt  to  deduce  proofs,  by  pervert 
ed  interpretations  and  unfaithful  expositions,  but  also  from 
the  law  and  the  prophets,  which  containing  many  parables  and 
allegories  capable  of  being  drawn  into  various  meanings,1 
others  of  them  craftily  and  deceitfully,  by  means  of  interpre 
tation,  accommodating  this  ambiguity  to  their  pleroma,  lead 
captive  from  the  truth  those  who  have  not  a  firm  faith  in  one 


TO.  naXcoS  eip^/ufva,  roiS  xawo??  tmvevor}HEvoiS  v 
2  EtS  TtoXXd  eXnEiv  dova/uevoov. 


PRIVATE  JUDGMENT.  353 

God,  Father  Almighty,  and  in  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son 
of  God." — Adv.  Hosres.  I.  1,  c.  iii.  n.  §>pp.  17,  18. 

[After  stating  that,  if  any  one  wished  to  try  the  Valentin- 
ians  and  Gnostics,  he  had  only  to  ask  their  opinions  on  the 
passages  of  Scripture  which  relate  to  Christ's  coming,  to  re 
ceive  seven  or  eight  different  interpretations,  he  continues  :] 
"So  many  diversities  (of  opinion)  are  there  amongst  them 
about  one  matter,  holding  various  opinions  respecting  the 
same  Scriptures,1  and  when  one  and  the  same  discourse  has 
been  read,  they  all,  knitting  their  eyebrows,  and  shaking  their 
heads,  pronounce  that  the  discourse  is  very  sublime  indeed, 
but  that  all  men  cannot  compass  the  magnitude  of  the  mean 
ing  therein  contained,  and  that  on  this  account,  silence  is  a 
most  important  thing  amongst  wise  men.  .  .  .  And  thus  all 
who  were  present  take  their  departure,  burdened  with  so  many 
sentiments  upon  one  point;  carrying  away  hidden  within 
themselves  their  acumen.  When,  therefore,  they  shall  have 
agreed  amongst  themselves  respecting  the  things  proclaimed 
in  the  Scriptures,  then  also  shall  they  be  confuted  by  us.  For, 
not  thinking  rightly,  they,  in  the  meanwhile,  convict  each 
other,  not  agreeing  respecting  the  very  same  words.2  But  we, 
following  one,  and  the  alone  true  God  (as)  teacher,  and  hav 
ing  His  discourses  as  the  (or  a)  rule  of  truth,  always  say  the 
same  things  respecting  the  same  matters,3  knowing  one  God, 
the  maker  of  the  universe.  .  .  ." — Ib.  1.  iv.  c.  35,  p.  277.  See 
also  the  extracts  given  under  "  The  Church  the  Expounder  of 
Scripture" 

CLEMENT  OF  ALEXANDEIA,  G.  C. — "They  (the  heretics)  do 
away  with  the  true  doctrine  of  the  Lord ;  not  interpreting 
and  transmitting  the  Scriptures  agreeably  to  the  dignity  of 
God  and  of  the  Lord :  for  the  understanding  and  the  culti 
vation  of  the  pious  tradition,  agreeably  to  the  teaching  of  the 

1  De  iisdem  scripturis  varias  habentes  sententias. 

1  Quum  igitur  inter  eos  convenerit  de  iis  quae  in  scripturis  praedicta,  tune 
et  a  nobis  confutabuntur.  Non  enim  bene  sentientes,  interim  tamen  seme- 
tipsos  arguunt,  de  iisdem  verbis  non  consentientes. 

3  Nos  de  iisdem  semper  eadem  dicimus  omnes. 


354  PRIVATE  JUDGMENT. 

Lord,  through  His  Apostles,  is  a  deposit  to  be  rendered  to 
God.  That  which  you  hear  in  the  ear,  covertly,  that  is,  aiid 
in  a  mystery, — for  such  things  are  allegorically  said  to  be 
spoken  in  the  ear, — -preach  ye,  saith  He,  upon  the  house-tops, 
receiving  them,  that  is,  with  elevation  of  mind,  transmitting 
them  with  boldness  of  speech,  and  explaining  the  Scriptures 
according  to  the  canon  of  the  truth.  For  neither  the  proph 
ets,  nor  the  Saviour  Himself,  announced  the  divine  myste 
ries  so  simply  as  to  be  easily  comprehended  by  all  persons 
whatever,  but  spoke  in  parables.  .  .  .  All  things  are  right  to 
them  that  understand,  saith  the  Scripture  (Prov.  viii.  9),  to 
those,  that  is,  who  perfectly  preserve  His  manifested  interpre 
tation  of  the  Scriptures,  according  to  the  ecclesiastical  canon 
(or  rule) :  but  the  ecclesiastical  canon  is  the  concurrence  and 
the  harmony  both  of  law  and  of  prophets,  with  the  covenant 
delivered  during  the  Lord's  presence.1  .  .  .  For  many  reasons, 
therefore,  do  the  Scriptures  hide  their  meaning.  And  first, 
that  we  may  become  inquirers,  and  may  always  be  earnest, 
without  ceasing,  in  the  discovery  of  the  saving  words :  in  the 
next  place,  neither  was  it  befitting  for  all  men  to  understand? 
that  so  they  might  not  be  injured  by  erroneously  interpreting 
the  tilings  spoken  unto  profit  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  Therefore, 
for  the  elect  amongst  men,  and  for  those  who  through  faith 
have  been  admitted  unto  knowledge,  the  holy  mysteries  of  the 
prophecies  have  been  kept  concealed  by  parables.  For  the 
style  of  the  Scriptures  is  parabolic.  .  .  .  Lastly,  the  parabolic 
kind  of  writing  being  most  ancient,*  was  with  reason  most 
frequent  with  the  prophets." — Strom.  I.  vi.  pp.  803-4. 

1  TGOV  0601  vn>  avrov  6a<pr}vi<5fJtf6av  rcav  ypaqxvv  i^rjyrj6iv  Hard 
rov    EKxXrjGiaoriKov    navova.    kHOE\6iJ.Evoi    8ia6oo^ov6i  •  xavoov    Se 
IxxXytiiatiriHoS,  TI  tivvwdia  nod  rj  6vf.iq>GOvia.  vonov  re  nai  Ttpo<prjrwv, 
ry  Hard  rr/r  rov  Kvpiov  itapovtiiav  Trapadido/uery  diaOyxy.      For  the 
rule  supposed,  by  Clement,  to  have  been  followed  by  our  Lord,  and  for  a 
list  of  the  Apostles  to  whom  He  committed  His  whole  counsel,  see  under  the 
heads  "  Tradition  "  and  "  Discipline  of  the  Secret." 

2  Mi?d£  Toi1,  aTtadi  Ttpotirjnov  rjv  voiElv. 

3  He  alludes  to  Strom.  I.  v.  where  occurs  the  celebrated  passage  on  the 
Egyptian  hieroglyphics  and  on  symbolic  writing.     The  following  sentence 


PRIVATE  JUDGMENT.  355 

TERTTTLLIAN,  L.  C. — "  For  us  there  is  no  need  of  curiosity 
since  Christ  Jesus ;  nor  of  inquiry  since  the  Gospel.  When 
we  do  believe,  we  do  not  desire  to  believe  anything  besides. 
For  this  we  believe  from  the  first,  that  there  is  nothing  which 
we  ought  to  believe  besides.  I  come  therefore  to  that  point 
which  even  our  brethren  adduce  for  entering  on  curious  in 
quiry,  and  which  heretics  urge  for  bringing  on  curious  doubt. 
It  is  written,  say  they,  Seek  and  ye  shall  find.  Let  us  remem 
ber  on  what  occasion  the  Lord  uttered  this  saying.  In  the  very 
first  beginning,  I  trow,  of  His  teaching,  when  it  was  doubted 
by  all  men  whether  He  was  the  Christ,  and  when  as  yet  not 
even  Peter  had  pronounced  Him  the  Son  of  God,  when  even 
John  had  ceased  to  be  assured  concerning  Him.  With  reason 
therefore  was  it  then  said,  Seek  and  ye  shall  find,  at  a  time 
when  He  was  yet  to  be  sought,  who  was  not  yet  acknowledged. 
And  this  as  regards  the  Jews :  for  to  them  pertains  the  whole 
language  of  this  reproach,  as  having  wherein  they  might  seek 
Christ.  They  have,  he  says,  Moses  and  Ellas,  that  is,  the  law 
and  the  prophets  which  preach  Christ :  agreeably  to  which, 
also,  in  another  place,  he  saith  openly  :  Search  the  Scriptures, 
in  which  ye  hope  for  salvation,  for  they  speak  of  me.  This 
will  be  (the  meaning  of),  Seek  and  ye  shall Jmd,  for  it  is  mani 
fest  that  the  words  which  follow  also  relate  to  the  Jews, 
Knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto  you.  The  Jews  had  been 
in  past  times  with  God ;  afterwards,  being  cast  out  because  of 
sins,  they  began  to  be  shut  out  from  God.  But  the  Gen 
tiles  never  were  with  God,  except  as  a  drop  from  a  'bucket, 
and  as  dust  from  the  thrashing-fioor  (Is.  xl.  15),  and 
were  always  without.  How  then  shall  he  who  was  always 
without  (the  door),  knock  at  the  place  where  he  never 
was  ?  .  .  .  Again,  Ask,  and  ye  shall  receive,  suits  him,  who 
was  aware  from  whom  to  petition,  from  whom  also  something 

comprises  his  views:  "All  who  have  treated  of  divine  things,  whether 
Greeks  or  barbarians,  concealed  the  principles  of  things,  and  transmitted 
the  truth  by  aenigmas  and  symbols,  and  also  by  allegories  and  metaphors, 
and  such  like  figures."— P.  658. 


356  PRIVATE  JUDGMENT. 

had  been  promised ;  from  the  God,  that  is,  of  Abraham,  Isaac, 
and  Jacob,  whom  the  nations  knew  not,  any  more  than  of  any 
promise  from  Him.  And  therefore  He  spoke  to  Israel,  I  was 
not  sent,  saith  He,  but  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel 
(Matt.  xv.  24).  He  had  not  as  yet  cast  to  dogs  the  children's 
bread :  He  had  not  as  yet  commanded  them  to  go  into  the  way 
of  the  Gentiles  :  since  it  was  in  the  end  that  He  ordered  them 
to  go  and  teach,  and  baptize  tlie  nations  •  and  that  they  should 
presently  receive  the  Holy  Spirit  the  Paraclete,  who  should 
guide  them  into  all  truth.  And  this  therefore  tendeth  hither- 
wards.  But  if  the  Apostles,  the  appointed  teachers  of  the 
Gentiles,  were  themselves  even  to  receive  the  Paraclete  as  a 
teacher,  the  saying,  Seek,  and  ye  shall  find,  was  much  more 
out  of  place  as  respects  us,  to  whom  the  doctrine  was  to  present 
itself  without  seeking  through  the  Apostles,  and  to  the  Apos 
tles  themselves  through  the  Holy  Spirit.  All  the  sayings  in 
deed  of  the  Lord  were  set  forth  for  all  men  :  they  have  passed 
down  to  us  through  the  ears  of  the  Jews ;  but  most  of  those 
sayings,  being  directed  towards  particular  persons,  formed  not 
for  us  a  special  admonition,  but  an  example. 

9.  "  I  now  of  my  own  accord  withdraw  from  this  position  : 
be  it  said  to  all,  Seek,  and  ye  shall  find  ;  yet  even  then  it  is 
right  to  contend  for  the  meaning  with  some  guide  of  inter 
pretation.  No  divine  saying  is  so  loose  and  wide  that  the 
words  alone  are  insisted  on,  while  the  real  drift  of  the  words 
is  not  determined.  But  in  the  outset  I  lay  down  this  :  that 
there  is  doubtless  some  one  definite  thing  taught  by  Christ, 
which  the  nations  ought  by  all  means  to  believe,  and  therefore 
to  seek,  that  they  may,  when  they  have  found,  believe.  More 
over,  the  search  after  a  thing  taught,  which  is  one  and  definite, 
cannot  be  endless  :  thou  must  seek  until  thou  findest,  and  be 
lieve  when  thou  hast  found  ;  and  there  is  nothing  more,  save 
to  guard  what  thou  hast  believed ;  since  thou  believest  this 
moreover,  that  nothing  else  is  to  be  believed,  and  therefore 
nothing  else  sought  after,  inasmuch  as  thou  hast  found  and 
hast  believed  that  which  was  taught  by  him,  who  does  not 


PRIVATE  JUDGMENT.  357 

command  thee  to  seek  any  thing  besides  that  which  He  taught. 
If  any  one  doubteth  what  this  is,  it  will  be  proved  that  what 
was  taught  by  Christ  is  with  us. 

10.  .  .  ."  For  the  rest,  if  because  so  many  other  things  also 
have  been  taught  by  others,  we  are  on  that  account  bound  to 
seek  so  far  as  we  are  able  to  find,  we  shall  always  be  seeking, 
and  shall  never  believe  at  all.     For  where  will  be  the  end  of 
seeking  f  where  the  resting-point  in  believing  ?  where  the  com 
pletion  of  finding  f     With   Marcion  ?     But  Yalentinus  also 
propounds,  Seek  and  ye  shall  find.     With  Valentinus  ?     But 
Apelles  also  will  urge  me  with  this  declaration  :  and  Hebion 
and  Simon,  and  all  in  their  turn,  have  no  other  means  by 
which,  insinuating  themselves  into  my  favor,  they  may  join 
me  to  their  party.     I  shall  therefore  be  nowhere,  while  I  every 
where  meet  with,  Seek  and  ye  shall  find. 

11.  .  .  ."  Thus,  going  away  from  my  faith,  I  am  found  to  be 
a  denier  of  it.     Let  me  say  once  for  all ;  no  one  seeks,  except 
he  who  never  had  possession,  or  hath  lost  it.     The  old  woman 
had  lost  one  of  ten  pieces  of  silver,  and  therefore  sought  it ; 
but  when  she  found  it,  she  ceased  to  seek.     The  neighbor  had 
no  bread,  and  therefore  knocked  /  but  as  soon  as  it  was  opened 
unto  him  and  he  received,  he  ceased  to  knock.     The  ividow 
asked  to  be  heard  by  the  judge,  because  she  was  not  admitted ; 
but  as  soon  as  she  was  heard,  she  persisted  no  farther.     There 
is  therefore  a  limit  both  to  seeking,  and  to  knocking,  and  to 
asking. 

12.  "  Even  though  we  ought  to  be  yet  and  for  ever  seek 
ing,  still,  where  ought  we  to  seek?     Among  the  heretics? 
where  all  is  foreign  and  adverse  to  our  truth  ?  whom  we  are 
forbidden  to  come  nigh?     What  servant  expects  food  from 
a  stranger,  not  to  say  an  enemy,  to  his  master  ?     What  soldier 
looks  for  bounty  and  pay  from  unallied,  not  to  say  hostile, 
kings,  unless  he  be  a  downright  deserter,  and  a  runaway,  and 
a  rebel  ?     Even  that  old  woman  sought  for  the  piece  of  silver 
in  her  own  house  ;  even  he  that  knocked,  did  so  at  a  neigh 
bor's  door ;  even  that  widow  appealed  to,   not  an   adverse, 


358  PRIVATE  JUDGMENT. 

though  a  hard  judge.  No  one  can  thence  be  instructed,  whence 
comes  his  destruction :  no  one  is  thence  enlightened,  whence 
comes  darkness.  Let  us  seek  therefore  in  our  own,  and  from 
those  who  are  our  own,  and  concerning  our  own :  and  that  only 
which,  without  touching  the  rule  of  faith,  can  be  brought  into 
question."  [Then  follows  n.  13,  the  creed  as  then  received 
and  professed  at  baptism.] 

14.  "  This  rule,  taught,  as  will  be  proved,  by  Christ,  has 
no  questions  raised  about  it  amongst  us,  save  those  which  here 
sies  introduce,  and  which  make  men  heretics.  But  so  long  as 
its  form  remains  in  its  own  proper  order,  thou  mayest  seek  and 
discuss  as  much  as  thou  pleasest,  and  exhaust  all  thy  longing 
after  curious  inquiry  ;  if  any  thing  seem  to  thee  either  to  hang 
in  doubt,  or  to  be  shaded  with  obscurity,  there  is  doubtless 
some  brother,  a  doctor  endowed  with  the  grace  of  knowledge ; 
there  is  some  who  has  been  familiar  with  those  who  are  well 
practised ;  some  one  like  thyself,  curiously  inquiring,  yet,  like 
thee,  seeking.  Thou  newest  of  novices,  it  is  better  for  thee  to 
be  ignorant,  lest  thou  know  what  thou  oughtest  not,  for  what 
thou  oughtest  to  know,  thou  knowest.  Thy  faith,  He  says, 
hath  made  thee  whole  (Luke  xviii.  42),  not  thy  exercises  in  the 
Scriptures.1  Faith  is  fixed  in  a  rule :  thou  hast  a  law,  and 
from  the  keeping  of  the  law,  salvation  ;  but  this  exercising  (of 
thyself  in  the  Scriptures) a  consists  in  curiosity,  having  glory 
only  from  a  zeal  for  skilfulness.  Let  curiosity  yield  to  faith ; 
let  glory  yield  to  salvation.  At  all  events,  either  let  them  not 
clamor  in  opposition,  or  let  them  be  still.  To  know  nothing 
contrary  to  the  rule,  is  to  know  every  thing.  Even  though 
heretics  were  not  enemies  of  the  truth,  even  though  we  were 
not  forewarned  to  avoid  them,  what  sort  of  act  is  it  to  confer 
with  men  who  themselves  profess  that  they  also  are  still  seek 
ing  ?  For  if  they  are  still  really  seeking,  they  have  as  yet 
found  nothing  certain,  and  consequently  whatsoever  in  the 
meanwhile  they  may  seem  to  hold,  they  show  their  own  doubt- 

1  Non  exercitatio  scripturarura. 

2  Exercitatio,  as  in  the  preceding  reference. 


PRIVATE  JUDGMENT.  359 

fulness,  as  long  as  they  are  seeking.  Thou,  therefore,  who 
likewise  art  seeking,  looking  to  those  who  are  themselves  also 
seeking,  the  doubting  led  by  the  doubtful,  the  unassured  by  the 
unassured,  the  blind  by  those  who  are  blind,  must  needs  be  led 
into  the  pit.  But  when,  for  the  sake  of  deceiving,  they  pre 
tend  that  they  are  still  seeking,  that  they  may,  by  instilling 
anxiety  into  us,  palm  their  conceits  upon  us  ;  and  when,  more 
over,  as  soon  as  they  have  gained  access  to  us,  they  maintain 
those  points  which  they  said  ought  to  be  questions,  then  ought 
we  so  to  account  of  them,  that  they  may  know  that  we  deny, 
not  Christ,  but  them.  For  as  long  as  they  are  still  seeking, 
they  have  not  laid  hold ;  and  as  long  as  they  have  not  laid 
hold,  they  have  not  as  yet  believed,  they  are  not  Christians. 
But  when  they  do  indeed  hold  a  thing  and  believe  it,  and  yet, 
in  order  that  they  may  maintain  it,  say  that  it  must  be  inquired 
into,  before  they  maintain  it,  they  deny  that  which,  by  making 
it  matter  of  inquiry,  they  confess  that  they  do  not  as  yet  be 
lieve.  Those  therefore  who  are  not  Christians,  even  in  their 
own  eyes,  how  much  less  in  ours !  What  must  the  faith  be 
which  those  argue  for,  wrho  come  to  us  by  means  of  deceit  ? 
What  the  truth  which  those  support,  who  introduce  it  with 
a  lie? 

15.  "But  these  very  persons  treat  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
argue  out  of  the  Scriptures.  As  if  they  could  possibly  speak 
of  the  things  of  the  faith,  except  from  the  records  of  the 
faith?1  We  come  therefore  to  the  question  before  us:  for 
this  we  were  ordering,  and  this  we  were  preparing  in  this  pref 
atory  discourse,  that  we  might  henceforward  battle  the  point 
on  which  the  adversaries  challenge  us.  They  put  forward  the 
Scriptures,  and  by  this  their  boldness  they  forthwith  move 
some;  but  in  the  actual  encounter  they  weary  the  strong, 

1  Aliunde  scilicet  loqui  possent  de  rebus  fidei,  nisi  ex  litteris  fidei?  I 
have  preserved  Rigaltius'  reading,  but  Albaspinaeus  says  (in  loco,  note  e,  p. 
207)  that  the  note  of  interrogation  is  an  interpolation.  In  that  case  the 
meaning  will  be:  "  That  is  they  might  speak  of  the  things  of  the  faith  out 
of  other  sources  besides  the  writings  of  the  faith."  This  Tertullian  had  al 
ready  shown  in  the  eighth  chapter  given  in  part  in  the  text. 


360  PRIVATE  JUDGMENT. 

catch  the  weak,  send  away  the  wavering  without  a  doubt. 
We  therefore  interpose  this  first  and  foremost  position :  that 
they  are  not  to  be  admitted  to  any  discussion  whatever  touch 
ing  the  Scriptures.1  If  these  be  those  weapons  of  strength 
of  theirs,  in  order  that  they  may  possess  them,  it  ought  to  be 
seen  to  whom  the  possession  of  the  Scriptures  belongeth,  lest 
he  may  be  admitted  to  it  to  whom  it  in  no  wise  belongs. 

16.  "  It  might  be  that  I  advanced  this,  prompted  by  dis 
trust  of  my  cause,  or  from  a  desire  of  entering  on  the  debate 
in  some  other  way,  unless  there  were  clear  reason  for  it ;  first 
and  chiefly  this,  that  our  faith  oweth  obedience  to  the  Apostle, 
when  he  forbids  us  to  enter  upon  questions,  to  lend  our  ears 
to  new  sayings,  to  deal  with  an  heretic  after  one  admonition, 
not  after  a  disputation.  .  .  .  The  next  reason  is,  because  an 
encounter  of  the  Scriptures  can  avail  nothing  except  to  lead 
to  a  sheer  turning  of  the  stomach  or  of  the  brain. 

17.  "This  heresy  does   not  receive  certain  of  the  Scrip 
tures  ;  and  the  some  that  it  does  receive,  it  receives  not  entire ; 
by  adding  to  and  taking  from  them,  it  turneth  about  accord 
ing  to  the  plan  of  its  own  purpose  ;  and  if  to  a  certain  extent 
it  furnishes  them  entire,  nevertheless,  by  devising  diverse  expo 
sitions,  it  changeth  them.      An  adulteration  by  the  sense  im 
posed  is  as  much  opposed  to  the  truth  as  a  corruption  by  the 
pen.    Their  various  presumptions  must  needs  be  loath  to  recog 
nize  those  things  whereby  they  are  refuted.     They  rely  on 
what  they  have  falsely  composed,  or  have  derived  from  some 
ambiguity.     What  wilt  thou  gain,  O  thou  most  practised  in 
the  Scriptures,  when,  if  thou  affirmest  anything,  it  is  denied  ; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  if  thou  deniest  anything,  it  is  affirmed '? 
And  thou  indeed  wilt  lose  nothing  but  thy  breath  in  the  dis 
pute ;  thou  wilt  gain  nothing  but  vexation  from  their  blas 
phemy. 

18.  "But  he,  if  such  there  be,  for  whose  sake  thou  de- 
scendest  to  an  encounter  of  the  Scriptures,  that  thou  mayest 

1  Hunc  igitur  potissimura  gradum  obstruiinus,  non  admittendos  eos  ad 
ullam  de  scripturis  disputationem. 


PRIVATE  JUDGMENT.  361 

strengthen  him  when  wavering,  will  he  incline  more  to  truth 
or  to  heresies  ?  Being  moved  by  the  very  fact  that  he  seeth 
that  thou  hast  not  advanced  a  whit,  being  on  an  equal  footing 
in  denying  and  affirming,  on  a  different  side,  yet,  questionless, 
in  a  like  position,  he  will  go  away  still  more  unsettled  by  the 
dispute,  not  knowing  which  to  judge  the  heresy.  Of  course 
they  too  have  it  in  their  power  to  retort  these  things  upon  us. 
For  they  also,  who  in  like  manner  affirm  that  the  truth  is  with 
them,  must  needs  say  that  the  corruption  of  the  Scriptures 
and  the  falsities  in  the  expositions  of  them  have  been  rather 
introduced  by  us. 

19.  "  Therefore  there  must  be  no  appeal  to  the  Scriptures, 
nor  must  the  contest  be  constituted  in  these,  in  which  the  vic 
tory  is  either  none,  or  doubtful,  or  too  little  doubtful.1  For 
even  though  the  debate  on  the  Scriptures  should  not  so  turn 
out,  as  to  confirm  each  party,  the  order  of  things  required  that 
this  question  should  be  first  proposed,  which  is  now  the  only 
one  to  be  discussed,  i  To  whom  belongs  the  very  faith  ;  whose 
are  the  Scriptures ;  by  whom,  and  through  whom,  and  when, 
and  to  whom  was  that  rule  (discipline)  delivered  whereby  men 
become  Christians  ? '  For  wherever  both  the  true  Christian  rule 
and  faith  shall  be  shown  to  be,  there  will  be  the  true  Scrip 
tures,  and  the  true  expositions,  and  all  the  true  Christian 
traditions."  3 

37.  "If  these  things  be  so,  so  that  the  truth  be  adjudged 
to  us,  as  many  as  walk  according  to  that  rule  which  the  Church 
has  handed  down  from  the  Apostles,  the  Apostles  from  Christ, 
Christ  from  God,  the  reasonableness  of  our  proposition  is 
manifest ;  which  determines  that  heretics  are  not  to  be  allowed 
to  enter  upon  an  appeal  to  the  Scriptures,  whom  we  prove, 
without  the  Scriptures,  to  have  no  concern  with  the  Scrip 
tures.  For  if  they  be  heretics,  they  cannot  be  Christians,  in 

1  Ergo  non  ad  scripturas  provocandum  est;  nee  in  his  constituendum 
certamen,  in  quibus  aut  nulla,  aut  incerta  victoria  est,  aut  parum  mcerta. 
Rigaltius  changed  the  ]ast  words  of  the  sentence  into  "aut  par  incertae;'" 
but  there  seems  no  need  to  abandon  the  reading  of  the  manuscripts. 

2  For  the  continuation,  see  under  the  head  "  Apostolicity" 


362  PRIVATE  JUDGMENT. 

that  they  have  not  from  Christ  that,  which  having  followed  of 
their  own  choosing,  they  admit  the  names  of  heretics.  Then, 
not  being  Christians,  they  have  no  right  to  Christian  writings. 
Whence  are  heretics  aliens  and  enemies  to  the  Apostles,  ex 
cept  from  the  diversity  of  doctrine  which  each  one,  at  his 
own  pleasure,  either  brought  forward,  or  received  in  opposi 
tion  to  the  Apostles  ? 

38.  "  The  adulteration  therefore  both  of  the  Scriptures 
and  of  the  expositions  of  them,  must  be  thither  referred, 
where  difference  of  doctrine  is  found.1  Those,  who  had  the 
purpose  of  teaching  differently,  necessity  compelled  to  dispose 
differently  the  means,  (instruments)  of  teaching.  For  they 
would  not  otherwise  have  been  able  to  teach  in  a  different 
way,  unless  they  held  in  a  different  way  the  means  whereby 
they  taught.  As  they  could  not  have  succeeded  in  corrupting 
the  doctrine  without  corrupting  its  instruments,  so  the  genu 
ine  doctrine  could  not  have  come  to  us,  and  from  us,  without 
the  genuineness  of  those  means  whereby  the  doctrine  is 
handled.  For  what  is  there  in  our  (instruments)  contradictory 
to  us  ?  What  have  we  introduced  of  our  own,  that  we  should, 
by  taking  away,  or  adding,  or  changing,  remedy  something 
detected  to  be  contrary  to  what  was  in  the  Scriptures  ?  What 
we  are,  that  are  the  Scriptures  from  their  beginning ;  of  them 
we  were,  before  there  was  anything  different  to  what  we 
are,  before  they  were  interpolated  by  you.  But  since  every 
interpolation  is  to  be  believed  to  be  of  the  later  date  (as 
having  for  its  cause  rivalry,  which  is  never  either  prior  to, 
or  of  one  household  with,  that  which  it  rivaleth),  it  is  quite 
as  incredible  to  any  man  of  sense  that  we  should  be  thought 
to  have  introduced  a  corrupt  text  into  the  Scriptures,  we  who 
are  from  the  first,  and  the  first,  as  it  is  that  they  have  not 
introduced  it,  they  who  are  both  later  and  adverse  (to  them). 
One  man  alters  the  Scriptures  with  his  hand,  another  their 
meaning  by  his  exposition.  For  though  Valentinus  seems  to 

1  Illic  scripturarum  et  expositionuin  adulteratio  deputanda  est,  ubi  diver- 
sitas  invenitur  doctrina?. 


PRIVATE  JUDGMENT.  363 

make  use  of  the  entire  document  (instrument),  he  does  not  less 
lay  hands  upon  the  truth,  though  with  more  cunning  skill 
than  Marcion.  For  Marcion,  without  disguise,  and  openly, 
used  the  knife,  not  the  pen,  since  he  made  havoc  of  the  Scrip 
tures  to  suit  his  own  matter.  But  Yalentinus  spared  them, 
because  he  did  not  invent  Scriptures  to  fit  his  matter,  but  his 
matter  to  fit  the  Scriptures,  and  yet  he  took  away  more  and 
added  more,  in  taking  away  the  proper  meaning  of  each  par 
ticular  word,  and  adding  systems  of  things  not  to  be  seen 
therein. 

39.  [He  then  shows  that  the  works  of  the  poets  had  been 
similarly  perverted.     Thus,   "  Hosidius  Geta  extracted  from 
Yirgil   the  tragedy   of   Medea ; "    a   relative   of   Tertullian's 
"made  out  of  the  same  poet  the  Table  of  Cebes;"    patch 
work  compilations  from  Homer,  called  "  Homeric  Centones," 
were  frequent.]     "And  assuredly  the  divine  literature  is  more 
fruitful  in  furnishing  materials  for  every  kind  of  subject. 
!N"or  am  I  afraid  to  say  even,  that  the  Scriptures  themselves 
were  so  disposed  by  the  will  of  God,  that  they  might  min 
ister  materials  to  heretics,  when  I  read  that   there  must  be 
heresies  (1  Cor.  xi.  19),  which  without  the  Scriptures  cannot  be." 

40.  "  The  next  question  will  be,  from  whom  is  the  interpre 
tation  of  the  sense  of  those  words  which  contribute  to  heresies  ? 
Why,  from  the  Devil,  whose  province  it  is  to  pervert  the  truth, 
who  in  the  mysteries  of  idols,  rivals  even  the  very  things  of 
the  mysteries  of  God.     He,  too,  baptizes,"  &C.1 

42.'  "  I  speak  falsely,  if  they  do  not  differ  among  themselves 
even  from  their  own  rules,  seeing  that  each  one  forthwith 
moulds,  according  to  his  own  pleasure,  the  things  which  he 
hath  received ;  even  as  he  who  has  delivered  them  to  him, 

1  Tertullian,  Clemens  Alexandrinus,  and  the  primitive  writers  generally, 
trace  numerous  resemblances  between  Christian  and  Pagan  doctrines  and 
practices.     Perhaps  a  more  satisfactory  answer  could  not  be  given  to  similar 
coincidences  urged  against  our  religion,  than  would  be  furnished  by  a  col 
lection  of  such  passages. 

2  Chapter  41,  and  part  of  42,  here  omitted,  will  be  found  in  the  section 
"  Unity." 


364  PRIVATE  JUDGMENT. 

framed  them  according  to  his  own  pleasure.1  The  progress  of 
the  matter  is  a  confession  of  its  nature,  and  of  the  manner  of 
its  birth.  The  same  thing  was  allowed  to  the  Valentinians  as 
to  Valentinus,  the  same  to  the  Marcionites  as  to  Marcion,— 
to  change  the  faith a  according  to  their  own  pleasure.  Finally, 
all  heresies,  when  thoroughly  examined,  are  found  in  many 
things  differing  from  their  founders.  Most  of  them  have  not 
even  churches :  without  a  mother,  without  a  settlement,  desti 
tute  of  a  faith,  outcasts,  and  homeless,  they  wander  to  and  fro." 
[He  thus  concludes:]  "And  now  indeed  I  have  argued 
against  all  heresies  in  general,  that  they  ought  to  be  forbidden 
by  fixed,  and  just,  and  necessary  rules,  to  bring  Scripture  into 
their  disputes."— Z>*  Prmcrip.  Ilceret.  See  also  Apolog.  n. 
47,  p.  37. 

CENTURY    III. 

ORIGEN,  G.  C.— Explaining  St.  Matt.  xxiv.  23 :  Behold  here 
is  Christ,  &c.,  he  says,  "  Or  these  words  are  fulfilled  by  point 
ing  out,  not  Christ,  but  some  imaginary  creature  of  the  same 
name ;  as,  for  instance,  one  after  the  doctrine  of  Marcion,  or 
the  traditions  of  Valentinus.  There  will  be  many  others,  too, 
who  will  be  ready  to  say  to  the  disciples,  out  of  the  divine 
Scriptures,  adding  thereunto  their  own  meaning,  Behold  here 
is  Christ.  .  .  .  But,  as  often  as  they  bring  forward  canonical 
Scriptures,  in  which  every  Christian  agrees  and  believes,  they 
seem  to  say,  Behold  in  the  houses  is  the  word  of  truth.  But 
we  are  not  to  credit  them,  nor  to  go  out  from  the  first  and  the 
ecclesiastical  tradition ;  nor  to  believe  otherwise  than  accord- 
ing  as  the  churches  of  God  have  by  succession  transmitted  to 
-T.  iii.  Series  Comm.  (Tr.  29),  in  Matt.  n.  40,  p.  864. 
See  also  the  extracts  referred  to  under  the  «  Church  the  £x- 
pounder  of  Scripture,"  and  note,  pp.  339-40. 

ST.  CYPRIAN,  L.  C.— "  Neither  let  certain  persons  deceive 
themselves  by  a  vain  interpretation,  in  that  the  Lord  has  said, 

1  Unusquisque  prelude  suo  arbitrio  modulatur  qme  accepit,  quemad- 
modum  de  suo  arbitrio  ea  composuit  ille  qui  tradidit. 
8  Innovare  fidem,  to  innovate  in  faith. 


PRIVATE  JUDGMENT.  365 

Wheresoever  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name,  I 
am  with  them  (Matt,  xviii.  20).  Corrupters  of  the  gospel, 
and  false  interpreters,  they  lay  down  the  last  words,  and  omit 
what  goes  before ;  giving  heed  to  part,  and  part  they  deceit 
fully  suppress.  As  they  are  cut  off  from  the  Church,  so  do 
they  sever  the  meaning  of  one  passage.  For  the  Lord,  when 
recommending  to  His  disciples  unanimity  and  peace,  said,  I 
say  unto  you,  that  if  two  of  you  shall  agree  on  earth,  con 
cerning  anything  whatsoever  ye  shall  ask,  it  shall  be  done  to 
you  ~by  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven.  For  wheresoever  two  or 
three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name,  I  am  with  them, 
showing  that  most  is  given,  not  to  the  number,  but  to  the 
unanimity  of  the  petitioners.  If  two  of  you,  saith  He,  shall 
agree  on  earth.  He  places  agreement  first ;  the  concord  of 
peace  is  the  previous  condition  ;  He  teaches  that  we  must 
agree  together  faithfully  and  firmly.  Yet  how  can  he  possibly 
be  at  agreement  with  other,  who  is  at  disagreement  with  the 
body  of  the  Church,  and  with  the  universal  brotherhood? 
How  can  two  or  three  be  gathered  together  in  Christ's  name, 
who  are  manifestly  separated  from  Christ  and  from  His  gospel  ? 
For  we  did  not  go  out  from  them,  but  they  went  out  from  us. 
And  as  heresies  and  schisms  have  a  later  rise,  when  men  set 
up  separate  conventicles  for  themselves,  they  have  left  the 
(fountain)  head  and  origin  of  truth."1— De  Unitate,  p.  400. 


CENTURY    IV. 


DIODORUS,  G.  C.2 — "  I  wish  to  inform  you  that  a  certain  per 
son,  named  Manes,  has  come  hither  lately,  professing  that  he 
perfects  the  doctrine  of  the  New  Testament.  And,  in  sooth, 
in  what  he  has  said,  there  were  some  things  which  are  part  of 
our  faith,  but  others  of  his  assertions  were  widely  different 
from  what  comes  down  to  us  from  the  tradition  of  our  fathers.3 

1  Cum  haereses  et  schismata  postmodum  nata  sint,  dura  conventicula  sibi 
diversa  constituunt,  veritatis  caput  atque  originem  reliquerunt. 

2  His  letter  addressed  to  Archelaus  is  given  by  Gallandius,  t.  iii. 

3  Quae  a  nostra  paterna  traditione  descendant.     Archelaus,  in  his  reply, 
speaking  of  Manes,  uses  the  same  language.     "  What  hast  thou  suffered 


366  PRIVATE  JUDGMENT. 

For  he  gave  some  interpretations  quite  opposite  to  ours,  and  to 
these  he  added  things  of  his  own,  which  to  me  appeared  ex 
ceedingly  strange  and  false.  .  .  .  You  know  that  men  who 
wish  to  assert  a  dogma  of  any  kind,  have  this  custom,  that 
-whatsoever  they  choose  to  select  from  the  Scriptures,  that  they 
obstinately  wrest  by  their  own  interpretation.  But  the  apos 
tolic  word,  forestalling  this,  brands  it,  saying,  If  any  one 
shall  preach  to  you  besides  that  which  ye  have  received,  let 
him  be  anatfcma.  Wherefore,  after  the  things  which  once 
for  all  were  delivered  by  the  Apostles,  the  disciple  of  Christ 
must  not  beyond  that  receive  anything  else  whatever. "- 
Diod.  Archelao  Episcopo,  Gattand.  t.  iii.  p.  595. 

EUSEBIUS,  G.  C. — The  chapter  begins,  like  many  others  in 
this  work,  with  an  extract  from  Plato's  works,  showing  the 
correspondence  between  his  system  and  that  of  the  Jews  and 
Christians,  and  in  the  case  before  us,  the  quotation  is  from 
Lib.  i.  De  Legibus,  where  Plato  approves  of  a  law  of  the 
Lacedemonians  forbidding  young  men  to  inquire  into  the  laws  ; 
on  which  Eusebius  says :  "  This  advice  is  most  sound.  There 
fore  was  it  that  the  Jewish  Scripture,  forestalling  this,  re 
quires  faith  before  there  is  intelligence  or  scrutiny  of  the 
divine  writings  :  If  you  will  not  believe,  you  shall  not  under 
stand  (Is.  vii.  9) ;  and  again,  /  have  believed,  therefore  have  I 
spoken  (Ps.  cxv.  1).  Hence  also  amongst  us,  to  those  who  have 
been  but  recently  introduced  amongst  us,  and  whose  habits 
are  not  formed,  and  who  are,  as  regards  their  souls,  mere  in 
fants,  the  reading  in  the  divine  writings  is  communicated  in 
the  most  simple  form,1  accompanied  with  an  admonition  that 
they  ought  to  yield  belief  to  the  things  brought  before  them 
as  to  the  words  of  God  ;  but  to  those  whose  habits  of  mind 
are  settled,  and  who  are  as  it  were  gray  in  understanding,  (it 

from  me?  Even  when  thou  wast  taking  from  our  paternal  traditions  (cum 
detraheres  de  paternis  nostris  traditionibus)." — Disp.  cum  Ufanete,  p.  601. 
Oalland,  t.  iii. 

1  *Art\ov6T£pov  rf  kv  rat's  0£za-fS  ypdcpaiS  avdyvootiiS  TtadadiSorat, 
may  also  be  translated,  the  knowledge  in  the  divine  ivritmgs  is  communicated 
in  the  most  simple  form. 


PRIVATE  JUDGMENT.  367 

is  theirs)  to  penetrate  and  to  examine  the  meaning  of  the 
things  said.  These  persons  it  was  the  pleasure  of  the  Jews  to 
call  doctors  of  tradition  (Deuterotce),  as  being  interpreters  and 
expounders  of  the  meaning  of  the  Scriptures."  —  Prcep.  Evang. 
1.  xii.  c.  1,  p.  573. 

"  Then  also  do  they  divide  His  garments  among  them,  and 
for  His  vesture  cast  lots,  when,  —  corrupting  the  beauty  of  the 
word,  that  is,  the  expressions  of  the  divine  writings,  —  each 
one  drags  them  in  a  different  direction  ;  x  and  when  men  take 
up  opinions  concerning  Him  from  perverted  doctrines,  things 
which  it  is  the  custom  of  impious  heretics  to  do."  —  Dem. 
Evang.  1.  x.  p.  506. 

ST.  HILARY,  L.  C.  —  "  Many  have  there  been  who  have  taken 
up  the  simplicity  of  the  heavenly  words  according  to  that 
sense  which  their  will  dictated,  not  for  the  end  of  the  truth 
itself,  interpreting  otherwise  than  the  force  of  the  words  re 
quired.  For  heresy  is  not  from  Scripture,  but  from  the  un 
derstanding  (of  it)  ;  and  the  sense,  not  the  words,  the  cause  of 
crime."  3  —  De  Trinitate,  Lib.  ii.  n.  3,  t.  ii.  p.  27.  See  also 
the  quotation  from  Lib.  vii.  De  Trinit.  n.  4,  already  given 
under  "  Unity." 

Having  reproached  the  Arians  for  not  adhering  to  the  faith 
as  expressed  in  the  form  of  baptism,  he  says  that,  since  their 
original  defection,  "  A  habit  of  writing  and  innovating  in  faith 
has  grown  up  :  a  habit  which,  having  undertaken  to  frame 
what  is  new,  rather  than  to  defend  what  has  been  received, 
neither  defends  what  is  old,  nor  has  settled  what  is  new,  and 
thus  has  been  made  a  faith  of  the  times  rather  than  of  the  Gos 
pels  ;  while  what  is  defined  is  according  to  the  year,  not  that 
held  which  is  according  to  the  profession  at  baptism.  It  is  for 
us  a  very  dangerous,  and  at  the  same  time  a  pitiful  thing,  that 
there  are  now  as  many  faiths  as  wills  ;  and  as  various  doctrines 

1  Td$  A.£qeiS  rear  Qsioov  ypacpoov,  abhors  aXXooS  snatiroS 


paov 

2  De  intelligentia  enim  haeresis,  non  de  scriptura  est  ;  et  sensus,  non  ser 
mo  fit  crimen. 


368  PRIVATE  JUDGMENT. 

amongst  us,  as  morals ;  and  as  many  causes  of  blasphemies,  as 
there  are  vices  ;  while  faiths  (creeds)  are  either  written  as  we 
wish  them,  or  are  interpreted  as  we  wish  them.  And,  whereas, 
according  as  God  is  one,  and  the  Lord  one,  and  baptism  one, 
faith  also  is  one,  we  fall  away  from  that  faith  (4)  which  is  the 
only  one ;  and  while  many  faiths  are  made,  they  have  begun 
to  be  made  towards  this  result,  that  there  may  be  no  faith. 

5.  "  For  we  are  conscious  on  both  sides,  that  since  the 
synod  assembled  at  Nicaea,  there  is  nothing  but  creed-writ 
ing.  .  .  .  We  have  yearly  and  monthly  faiths  decreed  con 
cerning  God  ;  we  repent  of  what  has  been  decreed  ;  we  defend 
what  has  been  repented  of ;  we  anathematize  what  has  been 
defended.  ...  (9)  Remember,  however,  that  there  is  no 
heretic  who  does  not  now  assert  falsely  that  he  utters  accord, 
ing  to  Scripture  the  things  wherein  he  blasphemes.  .  .  .  AH 
plead  Scripture,  without  the  mind  of  Scripture  ;  and  unbeliev 
ing,  plead  belief.  For  Scripture  is  not  in  reading  but  in  com 
prehending."  — Ad  Constant.  August,  lib.  ii.  n.  4,  5,  9,  t.  ii. 
pp.  545-7. 

ST.  ATIIANASIUS,  G.  C. — Having  noticed  that  the  devil  tries- 
to  transform  himself  into  an  angel  of  light,  and  cites  Scripture 
for  his  purposes,  he  continues  :  "  Christ  has  of  Himself  told 
us  of  this,  saying,  Beware  of  false  prophets  who  come  to  you 
in  the  clothing  of  sheep,  but  inwardly  are  ravening  wolves 
(Matt,  vii.) ;  and  also  by  the  Apostles,  Believe  not  every  spirit 
(1  John  iv.)  For  such  is  the  method  of  the  adverse  powers, 
and  such  the  confederation  of  the  heresies.  For  each  has,  as 
the  parent  of  its  peculiar  opinion,  the  devil,  who,  being  per 
verted  from  the  beginning,  became  a  murderer  and  a  liar ; 
and,  ashamed  to  adduce  his  hateful  name,  each  assumes  falsely 
that  excellent  name,  which  is  above  every  other,  the  name  of 
the  Saviour,  and  clothes  itself  in  the  language  of  the  Scrip- 

1  Memento  tamen,  neminem  haereticorum  esse,  qui  se  mine  non  secundum 
scripturas  pr.Tdicare  ea  quibus  blaspheraat,  mentiatur  .  .  .  omnes  scriptu- 
ras  sine  scripturae  sensn  pretendunt.  Scripture  enim  non  in  legendo  sunt, 
sed  in  intelligendo.  The  whole  of  this  treatise  is  of  the  same  character  as- 
the  extracts  given  above. 


PRIVATE  JUDGMENT.  369 

tures,  and  speaks  indeed  the  words,  but  hides  the  true  mean 
ing  ;  and  for  the  rest  having  enveloped  the  peculiar  opinion 
which  it  has  formed  in  a  kind  of  ambush,  it  also  becomes  the 
murderer  of  those  who  go  astray."  —  Ep.  ad  Episc.  ^Egypt.  et 
Lyb.  n.  3,  t.  1,  p.  215.  See  another  extract  from  p.  219  of 
this  epistle,  given  under  "  Tradition" 

"  When  they  (the  Arians)  have  been  driven  from  the  con 
ceptions,  or  rather  from  the  misconceptions,  of  their  own 
hearts,  they  fly  again  to  the  words  of  the  divine  writings  ;  in 
regard  of  which  too,  they  being  as  usual  destitute  of  sense,  do 
not  see  the  meaning  that  is  in  them  ;  but  having  laid  down 
their  peculiar  impiety  as  a  kind  of  canon,  they  wrest  to  this 
point  all  the  divine  oracles.  Such  men  when  they  but  quote 
those  sayings  deserve  not  to  have  anything  said  to  them  but, 
Ye  err,  not  knowing  the  Scriptures,  nor  the  power  of  God" 
—Orat.  1.  Cont.  Arian.  n.  52,  t.  i.  p.  360.  See  also  Ibid.  n. 


ST.  CYKIL  OF  JERUSALEM,  G.  C.  —  "  Take  thou,  and  hold  that 
faith  only  as  a  learner,  and  in  profession,  which  is  now  by  the 

1  Earlier  in  the  same  discourse  against  the  Arians,  we  meet  with  the  follow 
ing  passage  :  "  If  then,  on  account  of  the  use  of  certain  phrases  of  the  divine 
writings  in  the  Thalia  (a  poem  by  Arius),  they  also  reckon  its  blasphemies 
blessings,  of  course  too,  as  they  see  the  Jews  reading  the  law  and  the  proph 
ets,  they  will  on  this  account  themselves  also  join  with  them  in  denying 
Christ.  And  if  they  chance  to  hear  the  Manichees  also  citing  certain  por 
tions  of  the  Gospels,  they  will  join  with  them  in  denying  the  law  and  the 
prophets.  If  it  be  from  ignorance  that  they  are  thus  tossed  about,  and 
utter  such  vain  babblings,  let  them  learn  from  the  Scriptures,  that  the 
devil,  who  invented  heresies,  because  of  the  ill  savor  which  attaches  to 
evil,  is  in  the  habit  of  using  words  of  the  Scriptures,  that,  having  them  as 
a  cloak,  whilst  he  sows  his  own  poison,  he  may  deceive  the  unsuspecting. 
Thus  he  deceived  Eve:  thus  he  framed  all  other  heresies;  so  too  has  he  now 
persuaded  Arius  to  speak  and  to  seem  to  be  opposed  to  heresies,  thereby  to 
be  unobserved  whilst  he  spreads  abroad  his  own.  "  (Having  named  some  of 
the  novelties  in  the  Arian  heresy,  he  continues)  —  "  Who  ever  heard  such 
things  as  these?  or  whence,  or  from  whom  have  the  favorers  and  hirelings  of 
this  heresy  learnt  them  ?  Who,  when  they  were  catechised,  ever  spoke  such 
things  to  them?  etc."  (As  given  under  the  head  "  Tradition.")  Again,  in  the 
same  Discourse,  n.  37,  p.  348,  "  But  since  they  (the  Arians)  allege  the  divine 
oracles,  and  force  on  them  a  misinterpretation,  according  to  their  private 
sense  (nard  TOV  i'diov  vovv\  it  is  necessary  to  answer  them  so  far  as  to 
vindicate  these  passages,  and  to  show  that  they  have  an  orthodox  significa 
tion,  and  that  these  men  are  in  error." 


370  PRIVATE  JUDGMENT. 

Church  delivered  to  thee,  and  is  defended  out  of  all  the  Scrip 
ture.  For  since  all  cannot  read  the  Scriptures,  but  some  as 
being  unlearned,  others,  by  business,  are  hindered  from  know 
ledge  (of  them),  in  order  that  the  soul  may  not  perish  from 
want  of  instruction,  we  comprehend  the  whole  doctrine  of  the 
faith  in  a  few  sentences.  This  I  wish  you  to  remember  in  the 
very  phrase,  and  to  rehearse  it  with  all  diligence  amongst 
yourselves,  not  writing  it  on  paper,  but  graving  it  by  memory 
on  your  heart ;  being  on  your  guard  in  your  exercise,  lest 
haply  a  Catechumen  should  overhear  the  things  delivered  to 
you.  This  I  wish  you  to  have  as  a  provision  by  the  way  dur 
ing  the  whole  period  of  life,  and  besides  this 1  never  to  receive 
any  other ;  not  even  if  we  ourselves,  having  changed,  should 
contradict  what  we  now  teach  ;  nor  even  if  an  opposing  angel, 
transformed  into  an  angel  of  light,  should  wish  to  lead  you 
astray.  For,  though  we,  or  an  angel  from  heaven,  should 
preach  to  you  besides  that  which  you  have  now  received,  let  him 
be  to  you  Anathema  :  and  for  the  present,  hearkening  to  the 
words  spoken,  commit  to  memory  the  faith,  and  receive,  at  the 
fitting  season,  the  proof,  from  the  divine  writings,  of  each  of 
the  things  laid  down.  For  the  things  of  the  faith  (creed)  were 
not  set  down  as  it  seemed  good  to  men,  but  the  most  impor 
tant  tilings  collected  out  of  all  the  Scripture  make  up  the  one 
teaching  of  the  faith.  And  in  the  same  way  as  the  mustard 
seed,  in  a  little  grain,  comprises  many  branches,  so  this  faith 
also,  in  a  few  words,  has  enfolded  in  its  bosom  the  whole 
knowledge  of  piety  a  that  is  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments. 

1  Ilapd  ravrrjv. 

tEvtisfieiaS,  true  religion.  In  his  eleventh  Catechetical  Instruction  we 
have  the  following:  "  Who  is  there  that  knoweth  the  deep  things  of  God, 
save  only  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  dictated  (spoke)  the  divine  writings?  But 
not  even  the  Holy  Spirit  Himself  has  spoken  in  the  Scriptures  concerning 
the  generation  of  the  Son  from  the  Father.  Why,  then,  dost  thou  search 
curiously  into  the  things  which  not  even  that  Holy  Spirit  has  written  in  the 
Scriptures?  Thou  that  knowest  not  the  things  that  are  written,  dost  thou 
search  curiously  into  the  things  that  are  not  written  ?  We  do  not  compre 
hend  that  which  is  written,  why  do  we  search  curiously  into  that  which  is 
not  written?  It  is  enough  for  us  to  know  that  God  begot  one  only  Son." — 
Catech.  xi.  n.  12. 


PRIVATE  JUDGMENT.  371 

Behold  therefore,  brethren,  and  hold  fast  the  traditions  which 
you  now  receive  (2  Thess.  ii.  14),  and  write  them  upon  the 
tablets  of  your  hearts  (Prov.  vii.  3)." — Catech.  v.  n.  12, pp.  77-8. 

"Let  us  then  seek  out  for  ourselves  the  testimonies  con 
cerning  the  Passion  of  Christ ;  for  we  have  assembled  together, 
not  now  to  make  a  contemplative  exposition  of  the  Scriptures, 
but  to  be  made  assured  rather  of  the  things  which  we  have 
(already)  believed." — Catech.  xiii.  n.  9, p.  187. ' 

ST.  EPHR^EM  SYRUS,  G.  C. — "  While  (the  sects)  mutually  re 
fute  and  condemn  each  other,  it  has  happened  to  truth  as  to 
Gideon ;  that  is,  while  they  light  against  each  other,  and  fall 
under  wounds  mutually  inflicted,  they  crown  her.  All  the 
heretics  acknowledge  that  there  is  a  true  Scripture.  Had 
they  all  falsely  believed  that  none  such  existed,  some  one 
might  reply  that  such  Scripture  was  unknown  to  them.  But 
now  they  have  themselves  taken  away  the  force  of  such  plea, 
from  the  fact  that  they  have  mutilated  the  very  Scriptures. 
For  they  have  corrupted  the  sacred  copies ;  and  words  which 
ought  to  have  but  one  interpretation,  they  have  wrested  to 
strange  significations.  Whilst,  when  one  of  them  attempts 
this,  and  cuts  off  a  member  of  his  own  body,  the  rest  demand 
and  claim  back  the  severed  limb.  ...  It  is  the  Church  which 
perfect  truth  perfects.  The  Church  of  believers  is  great, 
and  its  bosom  most  ample  ;  it  embraces  the  fulness  (or,  the 
whole)  of  the  two  Testaments."  [He  proceeds  to  describe 
the  heretics  of  his  day  as  mutilating  the  Scriptures]. —  T.  ii. 
Syr.  Serm.  2,  Adv.  Ilazres.  pp.  441-2.  See  also  ibid.  Serni. 
15,  j9.  476,  B. 

"  Assembled  in  the  Church  they  dispute,  and  in  the  very 
presence  of  truth,  they  pass  to  futile  discussions  .  .  .  looking 

1  The  system  pursued  in  the  church  of  Jerusalem,  and  acted  on  through 
out  the  Instructions  of  St.  Cyril,  is  to  require  assent  to  the  doctrines  of  the 
creed,  previous  to  any  demonstration  whatever  of  the  individual  articles  of 
that  creed.  See  Ben.  Ed.  Dissert,  iii.  c.  13,  n.  102,  p.  ccxlvii.  Few  writers, 
it  may  also  be  remarked,  make  mention  of  more  practices,  and  of  practical 
doctrines  also,  derived  solely,  or  principally,  from  tradition  than  does  St. 
Cyril.  See  the  passages  collected,  ibid.  n.  103. 


372  PRIVATE  JUDGMENT. 

on  truth  as  if  it  were  a  garment,  they  have  tried,  though  in 
vain,  to  tear  it  in  pieces ;  for  truth  is  one  and  indivisible ; 
whence  it  happens,  contrary  to  their  expectations,  that  whilst 
striving  to  divide  truth,  they  divide  amongst  themselves,  and 
are  at  the  same  time  outcasts  from  the  kingdom  of  God.  But 
not  therefore  do  they  lay  down  their  weapons  ;  they  prepare 
for  war ;  they  hope  for  victory ;  and  what  victory,  but  one 
which,  despite  false  appearances,  is  a  real  overthrow.  They 
are  assiduous  at  Scripture,  not  to  profit  by  pious  reading,  but 
that  they  may  err  more  freely ;  and  they  come  from  the  Scrip 
tures  more  ready  for  disputes  and  quarrels.  .  .  .  The  foolish 
men,  they  have  turned  aside  from  the  stones  set  as  guides  in 
the  king's  high-way  ;  and  that  they  may  wander  with  less  re 
straint,  they  have  plunged  into  pathless  and  desert  places. 
But  indeed  to  him  alone  who  perseveres  in  keeping  to  the 
king's  high-way,  will  it  be  granted  to  possess  the  gifts,  and  to 
come  to  the  presence  of  the  king." — T.  iii.  Syr.  Serm.  66  ; 
Adv.  Scrutat.  pp.  128-9.  See  also  ibid.  p.  130,  D.  E. 

ST.  GREGORY  OF  NAZIANZUM,  G.  C. — See  the  extracts  under 
"  Authority?  from  t.  i.  Or.  W,pp.  449-50 ;  and  from  Or.  46, 
p.  722. 

ST.  BASIL,  G.  C.— u  What  is  this  that  thou  sayest  ?  Shall 
we  not  assign  greater  weight  to  those  who  have  preceded  us  ? 
Are  we  not  to  show  respect,  both  to  the  multitude  of  those 
who  are  now  Christians,  and  of  those  who  have  been  such 
from  the  first  promulgation  of  the  Gospel  ?  Are  we  to  make 
no  account  of  the  authority  (or,  dignity)  of  those  who  have 
shone  conspicuous  in  every  kind  of  spiritual  gift,  to  all  of 
whom  this  way  of  impiety  of  thine,  which  thou  hast  just  in 
vented,  is  hateful  and  adverse  ?  But  is  each  of  us,  closing 
completely  the  eyes  of  the  soul,  and  banishing  utterly  from 
his  thoughts  the  memory  of  every  one  of  the  saints,  with  his 
heart  a  perfect  void  and  swept  clean,  to  submit  himself  to  thy 
guidance  and  sophistry  ?  Great  indeed  would  be  thy  sway,  if 
what  the  devil,  with  his  varied  wiles,  has  never  attained  to, 
should  fall  to  thy  lot  at  thy  bidding ;  if,  that  is,  at  thy  per- 


PRIVATE  JUDGMENT.  373 

suasion  we  should  judge  that  tradition  which  has  prevailed 
amongst  so  many  holy  men  throughout  the  whole  of  the  years 
that  have  flown  by,  deserving  of  less  honor  than  thy  impious 
fancy."— T.  \.  p.  i.  Adv.  Eunom.  1.  i.  n.  3,  p.  297.  For  the 
context,  see  "  Tradition"  ' 

ST.  EPIPHANIUS,  G.  C. — See  the  extract  from  Adv.  Hceres. 
xxxix.  given  under  "Authority." 

ST.  AMBROSE,  L.  C. — "Learn  also  hence,  that  Satan  trans 
forms  himself  as  it  were  into  an  angel  of  light,  and  often  sets 
a  snare  for  the  faithful  by  means  of  the  divine  Scriptures 
themselves.  Thus  does  he  make  heretics ;  thus  weaken  faith ; 
thus  attack  the  requirements  of  piety.  Let  not,  therefore, 
the  heretic  ensnare  thee,  because  he  is  able  to  cite  a  few  exam 
ples  from  Scripture ;  let  him  not  assume  to  himself  an  appear 
ance  of  learning.  The  devil  also  uses  texts  of  Scripture,  not 
to  teach,  but  to  circumvent  and  deceive." — T.  i.  Expos,  in  c. 
iv.  LUCOB,  n  26,  p.  1340.2 

ST.  JEROME,  L.  C. — "  I  have  sent  the  holy  father  Domnium 
certain  commentaries  of  mine  on  the  twelve  prophets,  and  on 
the  four  books  of  kings,  which  if  you  choose  to  read,  you  will 
have  proof  how  difficult  it  is  to  understand  the  divine  Scrip 
ture,  and  especially  the  prophets." 3 — T.  i.  Ep.  xlix.  n.  4,  col.  234. 

1  Rufinus  relates  of  St.  Basil  and  of  St.  Gregory  of  Nazianzum,  that, 
during  the  thirteen  years  which  they  spent  at  Athens,  laying  aside  all  pro 
fane  works,  they  applied  solely  to  the  sacred  writings,  explaining  them  not 
from  their  own  presumption,  but  "  out  of  the  writings  and  authority  of  the 
fathers,  who  it  was  known  had  received  the  rule  of  interpretation  from  (or 
through)  apostolical  succession.     (Ex  apostolica  successione  intelligendi  re- 
gulam  suscepisse  constabat.)" 

2  "A  man  that  is  a  heretic  after  the  first  admonition  avoid,  knowing 
that  such  a  one  is  perverted  and  sinneth,  being  condemned  by  his  own  judg 
ment.    These  are  heretics  who  attack  the  law  by  means  of  the  words  of  the 
law,  for  they  establish  their  private  sense  by  the  words  of  the  law,  in  order 
to  commend  the  wickedness  of  their  own  under  the  authority  of  the  law 
(proprium  enim  sensum  verbis  adstruunt  legis).     For  as  impiety  knows  that 
the  authority  of  the  law  avails  much,  it  dresses  out  a  fallacy  under  its  name; 
that,  since  a  thing  that  is  evil  cannot  be  acceptable  of  itself,  it  may  be  re 
commended  by  a  good  name."—  Comm.  in  c.  iii.  Ep.  ad  Titum  (Inter.  Op. 
S.  Ambros.)  T.  ii.  p.  316. 

3  Probabis  quantae  difficultatis  sit  divinain  scripturam,  et  maxime  pro- 
phetas  intelligere. 


374  PRIVATE  JUDGMENT. 

"  These  tilings  have  I  lightly  touched  upon,  that  you  may 
understand  that  you  cannot  make  your  way  into  the  holy 
Scriptures  without  having  some  one  to  go  before  you,  and  to 
show  you  the  road.  I  say  nothing  of  grammarians,  rhetori 
cians,  geometricians,  logicians  .  .  .  whose  knowledge  is  of 
great  use  to  mankind.  But  I  will  come  to  the  inferior  arts, 
such  as  are  exercised  not  so  much  by  the  reason  as  by  the 
hand.  .  .  .  Even  these  artisans  cannot  become  what  they  de 
sire  without  the  help  of  a  teacher  : 

Quod  medicorum  est 
Promittunt  medici,  tractant  fabrilia  fabri. 

The  science  of  the  Scriptures  is  the  only  one  which  all  per 
sons  indiscriminately  claim  as  theirs  : ' 

Scribiraus  indocti,  doctique  poemata  passim. 

This  the  babbling  old  woman,  this  the  doating  old  man,  this 
the  wordy  sophist,  take  upon  themselves  ;  tear  to  tatters ;  teach 
before  they  have  themselves  learned.  Some  weighing  out  long 
words,  with  uplifted  eyebrow  talk  philosophy,  to  a  crowd  of 
young  women,  concerning  (or,  out  of) 3  the  sacred  writings. 
Others,  shame  on  them !  learn  from  women  what  to  teach 
men  ;  and  as  if  this  were  not  bad  enough,  they,  with  a  certain 
facility  of  words,  or  rather  effrontery,  expound  to  others  what 
they  do  not  understand  themselves.  I  speak  not  of  those  who, 
like  myself,  coming  by  chance  to  the  study  of  the  Scriptures 
after  that  of  secular  learning,  and  by  their  eloquent  language 
pleasing  the  popular  ear,  fancy  that  which  they  utter  to  be  the 
law  of  God,  not  deigning  to  learn  what  the  prophets  and  what 
the  Apostles  thought,  but  they  accommodate  to  their  interpre 
tation  the  most  incongruous  passages,  as  if  it  were  something 
great,  instead  of  being  a  most  faulty  mode  of  teaching,  to  dis 
tort  sentences,  and  to  force  the  reluctant  Scriptures  to  their 
own  wishes." — Ib.  Ep.  liii.  ad  Paulin.  n.  7,  col.  273. 

Commenting  on  Eccles.  i.  9,  he  says :  "  This  is  also  to  be 
noted,  that  all  the  words  of  (Scripture)  are  weighty,  and  are 

1  Sola  scripturarum  est,  quam  sibi  omnes  passim  vendicant. 

2  Philosophantur  de. 


PRIVATE  JUDGMENT.  375 

learned  with  great  labor ; '  and  this  against  those  who  fancy 
that  the  knowledge  of  Scripture  comes  to  them  whilst  they 
remain  idle  and  are  making  resolutions  (or,  vows)." — T.  iii.  in 
Eccles.  col.  389. 

"  There  is  not  an  art  to  be  acquired  without  a  teacher ;  this 
(the  interpretation  of  Scripture)  is  forsooth  so  mean  and  easy, 
as  not  to  need  one." — Ibid.  col.  411. 

"  Neither  let  them  (sectarians)  feel  satisfied  with  themselves, 
if  they  seem  to  themselves  to  affirm  what  they  say  from  por 
tions  of  the  Scriptures,  since  even  the  devil  spoke  some  things 
out  of  the  Scriptures  ; a  and  the  Scriptures  consist  not  in  being 
read,  but  in  being  understood."— T.  ii.  adv.  Luciferi.  n.  27,  col. 
201-2.  For  the  context,  see  "  Apostolicity."  See  also  the 
extract  given  under  "  Unity,"  from  t.  vi.  col.  88-9. 

ST.  SIRICIUS,  POPE,  L.  C.— "  If  I,  to  whom  belongs  the  care 
of  all  the  churches,  shall  dissemble,  I  shall  hear  that  saying  of 
the  Lord,  You  reject  the  commandment  of  God,  that  you  may 
establish  the  traditions  of  men.  For  to  reject  the  command 
ment  of  God,  what  else  is  it  but  by  private  judgment  and 
human  counsel  to  take  pleasure  over-freely  in  establishing 
novelties.  It  has  therefore  been  brought  to  the  knowledge 
of  the  apostolic  see,  that  things  are  undertaken  in  opposition 
to  the  canon  of  the  Church,  and  that  in  opposition  to  those 
things  which  have  been  so  ordered  by  our  forefathers,  that 
they  ought  not,  even  by  the  slightest  whisper,  to  be  assailed, 
certain  persons  introduce  their  own  novel  observances ;  and, 
the  foundation  neglected,  seek  to  build  upon  the  sand,  though 
the  Lord  says,  Thou  shalt  not  pass  beyond  the  bounds  which 
thy  fathers  have  set.  Which  also  the  holy  Apostle,  the 
preacher  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  he  in  whom  Christ 
spoke,  admonishes:  Stand  fast,  he  says,  and  hold  our  tradi 
tions  which  you  have  learned,  whether  by  word  or  by  epistle." 
—Ep.  ad  Univ.  Orthod.  n.  i.  col.  1027,  t.  ii.  Labb. 

1  Magno  labore  discantur. 

8  Nee  sibi  blandiantur,  si  de  scripturarum  capitulis  videntur  sibi  affir- 
mare  quod  dicunt,  quum  et  diabolus  de  scripturis  aliqua  sit  loquutus. 


376  PRIVATE  JUDGMENT. 

CENTURY    V. 

ST.  AUGUSTINE,  L.  C. — "  The  holy  Scriptures  themselves, 
which  exhort  to  believe  great  truths  before  understanding 
them,  cannot  profit  you  unless  you  understand  them.  For  all 
heretics  who  acknowledge  their  authority,  seem  to  themselves 
to  follow  after  them,  whereas  they  do  rather  follow  after  their 
own  errors,  and  are  heretics  through  this,  not  because  they 
despise  them,  but  because  they  understand  them  not  rightly." 
— T.  ii.  Ep.  cxx.  Consent,  n.  13,  p.  524. 

"  So  great  is  the  depth  of  the  Christian  writings,  that  I 
might  daily  advance  in  them,  if,  from  earliest  youth,  even  to 
decrepit  old  age,  I  were  to  endeavor,  in  the  midst  of  leisure, 
with  the  most  intense  application,  and  with  greater  talents,  to 
learn  them  alone :  not  that,  with  so  great  difficulty,  may  one 
attain  to  those  things  in  them  which  are  necessary  to  salvation  ; 
but  when  one  has  therein  acquired  that  faith  without  which 
he  cannot  live  piously  and  uprightly,  so  many  things,  and 
those  veiled  by  so  many  folds  of  mystery,  remain  for  those  who 
advance  further ;  and  so  great  a  depth  of  wisdom  lies  hidden, 
not  merely  in  the  words  whereby  those  things  are  expressed, 
but  also  in  the  things  to  be  understood  ;  that  to  the  oldest,  the 
most  acute,  the  most  ardent  in  thirst  after  knowledge,  there 
happens  what  that  same  Scripture  has  somewhere,  When  man 
hath  done,  then  shall  he  begin  (Ecdes.  xviii.  6)." — T.  ii.  Ep. 
cxxxvii.  Volusiano,  n.  3,  col.  601. 

"  For,  neither  have  heresies,  and  certain  perverse  doctrines, 
which  ensnare  souls  and  cast  them  headlong  into  hell,  sprung 
up,  but  by  the  good  Scriptures  being  ill  understood,  and  what 
is  therein  badly  understood  is  rashly  and  boldly  asserted.1 
Wherefore,  my  beloved,  things  which  we  are  but  as  little  chil 
dren  in  comprehending,  let  us  hearken  to  with  very  great  cau- 

1  Per  hoc  non   quod  eas   contemnunt,  sed  quod   eas   non   intelligunt, 
haeretici  sunt. 

2  Neque  enim  natae  sunt  haereses,  et  quaedam  dogmata  .  .  .  nisi  dum 
scripturap  bonae  intelliguntur  non  bene ;  et  quod  in  eis  non  bene  intelligitur, 
etiam  temere  et  audacter  asseritur. 


PRIVATE  JUDGMENT.  377 

tion,  and  with  a  pious  heart,  and,  as  the  Scripture  says,  with 
trembling,  adhere  to  this  sound  rule, — to  rejoice  over  whatso 
ever  we  are  able  to  understand  in  accordance  with  the  faith 
wherewith  we  have  been  imbued,  as  over  our  food  ;  but  as  to 
whatsoever  we  may  not,  as  yet,  be  able  to  understand  in  ac 
cordance  with  the  sound  rule  of  faith,  to  put  aside  all  doubt, 
and  to  defer  to  some  other  time  the  understanding  of  it ;  that 
is,  even  though  we  know  not  what  it  means,  to  have  no  doubt 
whatever  but  that  it  is  good  and  true.  .  .  .  Far  be  also  from 
me  (your  pastor)  all  vain  presumption,  if  I  would  have  my 
conversation  as  a  sound  (teacher)  in  the  house  of  God,  which 
is  the  Church  of  the  living  God,  the  pillar  and  ground  of 
truth" — T.  iii.  Tract,  xviii.  in  Joan.  Evang.  n.  1,  col.  1883-4. 

"  All  these  most  silly  heretics,  who  wish  to  be  called  Chris 
tians,  try  to  give  a  colorable  appearance  to  their  wild  figments, 
which  the  sense  of  mankind  utterly  abhors,  under  cover  of  that 
gospel  sentence,  where  Christ  says,  /  have  yet  many  things  to 
say  to  you,  but  you  cannot  hear  them  now  (John  xvi.  12)  ;  as 
if  these  were  the  very  things  which  the  Apostles  could  not 
then  bear.  .  .  .  These  men  the  Apostle  foreseeing  in  the  Holy 
Spirit,  says :  For  there  shall  be  a  time  when  they  will  not 
endure  sound  doctrine,  but  according  to  their  own  desires, 
they  will,  &c.  (2  Tim.  iv.  3, 4)."— T.  iii.  Tract,  xcvii.  in  Joan. 
Evang.  n.  3,  4,  col.  2343. 

"  No  one  can,  in  any  way,  justly  attribute  to  the  holy  au 
thorities  of  the  divine  books,  the  errors,  so  numerous  and 
various,  of  heretics,  though  they  all  try  to  defend  their  own 
false  and  fallacious  opinions  out  of  the  same  Scriptures." — T. 
viii.  1.  1,  De  Trinit.  n.  6  (al.  3),  col.  1159. 

"  If  the  Church  was,  at  that  time,  no  more,  because  sacrile 
gious  heretics  were  received  (by  her)  without  baptism,  and 
this  was  followed  as  the  universal  custom,  whence  did  Donatus 
make  his  appearance  ?  from  what  land  did  he  spring  forth  ? 
out  of  what  sea  did  he  emerge  ?  from  what  sky  did  he  fall  ? 
We,  therefore,  as  I  had  begun  to  remark,  are  safe  in  the  com 
munion  of  that  Church,  throughout  the  whole  of  which  that  is 


378  PRIVATE  JUDGMENT. 

now  done  which,  both  before  Agrippinus,  and  between  Agrip- 
pirms  and  Cyprian,  was  similarly  done  throughout  the  whole 
o±  it."— T.  ix.  1.  iii.  Contr.  Donatist.  de  Baptis.  n.  3  (al.  2), 
col.  199.  See  also  the  extract  already  given  from  T.  ix.  L  1, 
Contr.  Cresc. 

ST.  CYRIL  OF  ALEXANDRIA,  G.  C. — "  He  (John  of  Antioch) 
grieves  all  the  bishops,  both  in  the  east  and  in  the  west,  (say 
ing)  that  the  word  concerning  Christ  is  not  orthodox,  but  per 
verted.  But  it  suffices  for  a  demonstration  and  refutation  of 
these  things,  that  they  have  never  been  said  by  any  one  in  the 
churches,  as  they  are  set  down  in  the  expositions  of  this  man." 
— Ad  Clerum  C.P.  col.  333,  t.  iii.  Labb.  ConciV 

THEODORET,  G.  C. — Having  named  three  different  opinions  of 
writers  hostile  to  the  inspiration  of  the  Canticle  of  Canticles, 
he  asserts  its  inspiration  as  follows :  'k  It  behooved  these  men 
to  be  conscious  how  very  much  wiser,  and  more  spiritual  than 
they,  are  the  blessed  fathers,  who  ranked  this  book  amongst 
the  divine  writings,  and  who  placed  it  in  the  canon  as  a  spiri 
tual  work,5  and  pronounced  it  worthy  of  the  Church.  [He 
then  gives  the  story,  or  legend,  of  Esdras,  and  returns  to  his 
first  argument,  referring  to  Eusebius,  Origen,  Cyprian,  Basil, 
and  others  of  the  fathers,  as  having  commented  on  or  quoted 
from  this  book,  as  sacred  Scripture,  and  adds :]  Wherefore  let 
us  consider  whether  it  be  just,  that  rejecting  so  many  and  so 
great  men,  and  contemning  the  most  Holy  Spirit  Himself,  we 
follow  our  private  opinions,9  not  attending  to  that  excellent 
saying,  The  thoughts  of  mortal  men  are  fearful,  and  their 
counsels  uncertain  (  Wisd.  ix.  14).  [He  refers  also  to  Rom.  i. 

1  St.  Cyril  of  Alexandria  speaks  frequently  of  the  difficulty  and  obscurity 
of  Scripture:  "  How  profound  is  the  word,  and  obscure  the  sentence  of  the 
law  I  Because  it  is  enigmatical,  and  a  scarcely  visible  shado wing-forth,  as 
it  were,  of  subtile  and  fine-drawn  (thin)  thoughts."— T7.  i.  De  Ador.  in  Sp. 
et  Ver.  p.  616.  "  The  language  of  the  holy  prophets  is  always  obscure,  and 
replete  with  hidden  sentiments,  and  labors  with  the  prediction  of  the  divine 
mysteries." — T.  ii.  Comm.  in  Esai.  p.  i. 

1  Oi  TOVTO  TO  ftiftXiov  TalS  QsiaiS  ypa<pai<5  6vvT£Taxo*£<>>  *a*  •  •  • 
•H.avovi6avT£C,  TE  avro. 

3  Tai?  otneiaiS  EvvoiaiS  dxoA.ovQe'tr. 


PRIVATE  JUDGMENT.  379 

21;  Acts  v.  29]."— T.  ii.  Proleg.  in  Cant.  Cant  pp.  3-5.1  For 
a  similar  defence  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  see  t.  iii.  in 
Promm.  ad  Epis.  ad  Hebr.  p.  542. 

"  Were  it  an  easy  thing  for  all  men  to  explain  the  oracles  of 
the  divine  prophets,  and,  passing  beyond  the  letter  that  is  seen, 
to  penetrate  into  its  depths,  and  to  attain  to  (catch)  the  hidden 
pearl  of  the  sense,  it  might  perhaps  be  justly  thought  a  super 
fluous  task  to  consign  to  writing  an  interpretation  of  them ; 
all  men  being  able,  by  the  mere  perusal,  to  attain  without  dif 
ficulty  to  the  prophetic  meaning  (mind).  But  as,  though  we 
all  have  the  same  nature,  yet  have  we  not  all  received  equal 
knowledge  ;  for,  To  each  one,  he  says,  is  given  the  manifesta 
tion  of  the  Spirit  unto  profit ;  and  to  one,  indeed,  by  the 
Spirit,  is  given  the  word  of  wisdom,  &c.  (1  Cor.  xii.  7-9)." — 
T.  ii.  Procem.  in  Interpr.  Daniel,  pp.  1053-4. 

CAPEEOLUS  OF  CARTHAGE,  G.  C. — See  the  first  extract  given 
from  this  writer  under  "  Authority." 

ST.  CELESTINE  I.,  POPE,  L.  C. — "  Justly  does  the  blame  touch 
us,  if  by  silence  we  foster  error ;  therefore  let  such  men  be 
corrected ;  let  them  not  have  liberty  to  speak  at  their  pleasure, 
Let  novelty  cease,  if  the  matter  be  so,  to  molest  antiquity  ;  let 
restlessness  cease  to  trouble  the  peacefulness  of  the  churches." 
— Ad  Episc.  Gall.  col.  1612,  t.  ii.  Labb.  Condi.  This  pas< 
sage  is  given,  with  the  comment  of  Vincent  of  Lerins,  undei 
"  Unity?  noteZ  to  Pope  Xistus  III. pp.  182-3. 

YINCENTIUS  OF  LERINS,  L.  C. — For  numerous  passages  on 
this  subject,  see  "  Authority  of  the  Church."  "  But  some  one 
will  say,  why  then  does  Providence  v^ry  often  permit  certain 
persons,  distinguished  in  the  Church,  to  broach  novelties  to 
Catholics  ?  A  befitting  question,  and  such  as  deserves  to  be 
treated  more  carefully  and  fully ;  to  which  however  I  must 
reply,  not  by  any  fancy  of  my  own,  but  by  the  authority  of 

1  Some  critics  have  doubted  of  the  genuineness  of  this  work,  but  its 
authenticity  is  vindicated  in  the  Proleg.  t.  i.  De  Vita  et  Script.  Theod.  p. 
34-7.  Theodoret  notices  at  p.  19  of  the  same  treatise,  that  amongst  the 
Jews  the  Canticle  of  Canticles  was  forbidden  to  be  read  but  by  persons  of 
mature  age. 


380  PRIVATE  JUDGMENT. 

the  divine  law,  and  the  evidence  of  a  master  in  the  Church. 
Let  us,  therefore,  hear  holy  Moses,  and  let  him  teach  us  why 
learned  men,  and  such  as  by  reason  of  their  grace  of  know 
ledge  are  called  even  prophets  by  the  Apostle,  be  sometimes 
permitted  to  broach  new  dogmas,  which  the  Old  Testament  is 
wont,  in  allegorical  language,  to  denominate  strange  Gods,  for 
this  reason,  to  wit,  that  the  opinions  of  these  men  are  so  ob 
served  by  the  heretics,  as  their  Gods  by  the  Gentiles.  Blessed 
Moses,  then,  writes  in  Deuteronomy,  If  there  shalt  arise  in 
the  midst  of  thee  a  prophet,  or  one  who  saith  he  hath  seen  a 
dream  (xiii.),  that  is,  a  teacher  placed  in  the  Church,  whose 
disciples,  or  hearers,  fancy  him  to  teach  from  some  revelation. 
What  then  ?  And  he  shall  foretell  a  sign  and  wonder,  and 
that  shall  come  to  pass  which  he  spoke.  It  is  plain  that  some 
great  teacher  or  other  is  meant,  and  one  of  so  great  knowledge, 
who  may  seem  capable  of  knowing  not  only  things  human, 
but  also  of  foreseeing  things  above  man's  reach,  such  as,  for 
the  most  part,  their  disciples  vaunt  Yalentinus  to  have  been, 
and  Donatus,  Photinus,  Apollinaris,  and  others  of  this  class. 
What  follows  ?  And  shall  say  to  thee,  let  us  go  and  follow 
strange  Gods,  which  thou  knowest  not,  and  let  us  serve  them. 
What  are  strange  Gods,  but  extraneous  errors,  which  thou 
knewest  not,  that  is,  new  and  unheard  of?  And  let  us  serve 
them,  that  is,  believe  them,  follow  them.  What  is  the  conclusion  ? 
Thou  shalt  not  hearken,  he  saith,  to  the  words  of  that  prophet 
or  dreamer.  And  why,  I  pray  you,  is  not  that  forbidden  by  God 
to  be  taught,  which  is  by  God  forbidden  to  be  hearkened  to  ?  Be 
cause,  saith  he,  the  Lord  your  God  trieth  you,  that  it  may  be 
made  manifest  whether  youlove  Him  or  not,  in  all  your  heart> 
and  in  all  your  soul.  The  reason  is  more  clear  than  day,  why 
Divine  Providence  sometimes  suffers  certain  masters  of  the 
churches  to  preach  certain  new  dogmas.  That  the  Lord  your 
God,  he  saith,  may  try  you.  And  assuredly  a  great  tempta 
tion  it  is,  when  he  whom  you  reckon  a  prophet,  a  disciple  of 
the  prophets,  a  doctor  and  maintainer  of  the  truth,  whom  you 
clung  to  with  the  highest  veneration  and  love,  suddenly  intro- 


PRIVATE  JUDGMENT.  381 

duces  by  stealth  noxious  errors,  which  you  can  neither  quickly 
detect,  whilst  you  are  led  by  prejudice  in  favor  of  your  old 
teacher,  nor  easily  bring  yourself  to  think  it  lawful  to  condemn, 
whilst  hindered  by  affection  for  your  old  master.  [He  illus 
trates  the  above  by  the  examples  of  Kestorius,  Photinus,  and 
Apollinaris,  and  adds  :]  Here  it  may  be  asked  of  me  that  1  ex 
pound  the  errors  of  the  men  named  above,  that  is,  Nestorius, 
Apollinaris,  and  Photinus.  But  this  does  not  pertain  to  the 
matter  whereof  we  now  treat ;  for  it  is  our  purpose,  not  to 
assail  the  errors  of  individual  men,  but  to  bring  forward  the 
examples  of  a  few,  whence  that  may  be  clearly  and  evidently 
demonstrated  which  Moses  saith,  namely,  that  if  at  any  time 
any  ecclesiastical  teacher,  yea  and  a  prophet  for  interpreting 
the  mysteries  of  the  prophets,  shall  attempt  to  introduce  any 
thing  new  into  the  Church,  that  Divine  Providence  suffers  to 
happen  for  our  trial." — Adv.  Hceres.  n.  xi.  xii. 

The  same  subject  as  continued  at  n.  xvii. :  u  We  said  then  in 
what  is  gone  before,  that  the  error  of  a  master  was  a  people's 
trial,  and  the  greater  the  trial,  the  greater  the  learning  of  him 
that  erred,  which  we  established,  first  by  the  authority  of  Scrip 
ture,  afterwards  by  examples  ecclesiastical ;  by  commemorating, 
that  is,  those  men  who  at  one  time  were  accounted  as  of  sound 
faith,  yet  at  last  fell  into  some  alien  sect,  or  themselves  estab 
lished  a  heresy  of  their  own.  A  subject  assuredly  of  great 
moment,  and  profitable  to  be  learned,  and  needful  to  be  remem 
bered,  and  which  we  must  again  and  again  illustrate  and  in 
culcate  by  weighty  instances  :  that  all  true  Catholics  may  know 
that  they  ought  with  the  Church  to  receive  doctors,  not  with 
doctors  to  forsake  the  faith  of  the  Church.1  But  I  am  of  this 
opinion,  that  although  we  are  able  to  bring  forward  many  as  ex 
amples  of  this  kind  of  temptation,  yet  there  is  almost  none  that 
can  be  compared  with  this  temptation  of  Origen,  in  whom 
there  was  so  much  that  was  so  excellent,  so  singular,  so  won 
derful,  that  in  the  beginning  any  would  at  once  have  decided 

1  Ut  oranes  vere  Catholic!  noverint,  se  cum  ecclesia  doctores  recipere,, 
non  cum  doctoribus  ecclesiae  fidem  deserere  debere. 


382  PRIVATE  JUDGMENT. 

that  faith  might  be  given  to  any  assertion  of  his.  For  if  life 
procures  authority,  (fee.  [Having  drawn  a  glowing  picture  of 
Origen,  he  adds :]  And  yet  this  very  Origen,  great  and  emi 
nent  as  he  was,  too  presumptuously  abusing  the  grace  of  God, 
indulging  too  much  his  own  wit,  trusting  himself  as  sufficient, 
slighting  the  ancient  simplicity  of  the  Christian  religion,  pre 
suming  that  he  was  wiser  than  all  others,  contemning  the  tra 
ditions  of  the  Church  and  the  teachings  of  the  ancients,  inter 
preting  certain  chapters  of  the  Scriptures  in  a  new  fashion,1 
deserved  that  of  him  also  the  Church  of  God  should  say,  If 
there  shall  arise  in  the  midst  of  thee  a  prophet ;  and,  a  little 
after,  Thou  shalt  not  hearken  to  tlie  words  of  that  prophet ; 
and  again,  Because  the  Lord  your  God  trieth  you,  whether  you 
love  Him  or  not.  [He  then  cites  Tertullian  as  another  exam 
ple,  and  adds  :  ]  Such  being  the  case,  he  is  a  true  and  genuine 
Catholic  who  loves  the  truth  of  God,  and  the  Church,  and  the 
body  of  Christ ;  who  prefers  not  anything  before  the  religion 
of  God,  nothing  before  the  Catholic  faith,  not  any  man's  au 
thority,  not  love,  not  wit,  not  eloquence,  not  philosophy,  but 
despising  all  these,  and  in  faith  abiding  fixed  and  stable,  what 
soever  he  knoweth  that  the  Catholic  Church  held  universally  of 
old,  that  alone  he  decideth  is  to  be  held  and  believed  by  him  ; 
but  whatsoever  he  shall  perceive  to  be  introduced  later,  new  and 
not  before  heard  of,  by  some  one  man,  besides  all,  or  contrary 
to  all  the  saints,3  let  him  know  that  it  pertains  not  to  religion, 
but  rather  to  temptation." — Ib.  n.  xx.  For  continuation,  see 
"Authority." 

"  Here  perhaps  some  one  may  ask,  whether  heretics  also  use 
the  testimonies  of  divine  Scripture  ?  Assuredly  they  use 
them,  and  vehemently  indeed  ;  for  you  may  see  them  flutter 
ing  through  each  several  volume  of  the  holy  law,  through  the 
books  of  Moses,  through  those  of  Kings,  through  the  Psalms, 

1  Dum  se  plus  cunctis  sapere  pra»surnit,  dum  ecclesiasticas  traditiones  et 
veterum  magisteria  contemnens,  quaedain  scripturarum  capitula  novo  more 
interpretatur. 

s  Quidquid  vero  ab  aliquo  deinceps  uno,  prater  omnes,  vel  contra  omnes 
sanctos  novum  et  inauditum  subinduci  senserit. 


PRIVATE  JUDGMENT.  383 

through  the  Apostles,  through  the  Gospels,  through  the  pro 
phets.  For  whether  amongst  their  own,  or  amongst  strangers, 
whether  in  private  or  in  public,  whether  in  their  discourses  or 
in  their  books,  whether  in  convivial  meetings  or  in  the  streets, 
nothing  ever  scarcely  do  they  bring  forward  of  their  own, 
which  they  do  not  also  try  to  shadow  with  words  of  Scrip- 
ture.1  Head  the  tracts  of  Paul  of  Samosata,  of  Priscillian, 
Eunomius,  Jovinian,  and  of  the  rest  of  such  pests  ;  and  you 
will  behold  a  vast  heap  of  examples,  hardly  a  page  omitted 
which  is  not  painted  and  colored  with  sentences  from  the  Old 
or  New  Testament.  But  the  more  covertly  they  lurk  under 
the  shadows  of  the  divine  law,  the  more  are  they  to  be  avoided 
and  dreaded.2  For  they  know  that  their  foul  savors  would 
not  soon  be  pleasing  to  any  scarcely,  if  they  were  exhaled 
barely  and  without  admixture,  and  they  therefore  sprinkle  them 
with  the  perfume,  as  it  were,  of  God's  word,  that  so  he  who 
would  readily  despise  a  human  error,  may  not  readily  contemn 
the  divine  oracles.  They  therefore  do,  as  they  are  wont  who 
are  preparing  bitter  draughts  for  little  children,  anointing  the 
brims  first  with  honey,  that  unwary  youth,  first  tasting  the 
sweetness,  may  not  fear  the  bitterness.  .  .  .  Hence,  in  fine, 
the  Saviour  also  cried  out,  Take  Jieed  to  yourself  of  false  pro 
phets,  who  come  to  you  in  the  clothing  of  sheep,  but  inwardly 
they  are  ravening  wolves  (Matt,  vii.)  What  is  the  clothing  of 
sheep,  but  the  sayings  of  the  prophets  and  Apostles,  which 
these  men,  with  sheep-like  sincerity,  wove  as  fleeces,  for  that 
immaculate  Lamb  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world  f 
Who  are  ravening  wolves,  but  the  wild  and  rabid  senses  (in 
terpretations)  of  heretics,  who  ever  infest  the  folds  of  the 
Church,  and  tear  in  pieces  the  flock  of  Christ,  in  whatever 
way  they  can.  But  that  they  may  more  craftily  creep  in  upon 
the  unsuspecting  sheep,  retaining  the  ferocity  of  wolves,  they 

1  Nihil  unquam  pene  de  suo  proferunt,  quod  non  etiam  scripturae  verbis 
adumbrare  conentur  (to  place  under  the  shadow,  or  protection,  of  words  of 
Scripture). 

2  Sed  tanto  magis  cavendi  et  pertimiscendi  sunt,  quanto  occultius  sub 
divinas  legis  umbraculis  latitant. 


384  PRIVATE  JUDGMENT. 

put  off  the  appearance  of  wolves,  and  shroud  themselves  with 
sentences  from  the  divine  law,  as  with  certain  fleeces,  that  when 
one  first  feels  the  softness  of  the  wool,  he  may  not  dread  the 
sharpness  of  their  teeth.  But  what  says  the  Saviour  ?  By 
their  fruits  shall  ye  know  them.  That  is,  when  they  shall 
begin,  not  now  only  to  bring  forward  these  divine  words,  but 
also  to  expound — no  longer  to  shoot  them  forth,  but  also  to 
interpret  them — then  that  bitterness,  then  that  sharpness,  then 
that  rage,  will  be  perceived  ;  then  that  new  poison  will  be  ex 
haled  ;  then  will  the  profane  novelties  be  laid  open  ;  then  may 
you  first  see  the  hedge  broken,  then  the  bounds  of  the  fathers 
transferred ;  then  the  Catholic  faith  slaughtered ;  then  the 
ecclesiastical  dogma  torn  in  pieces.  Such  were  they  whom  the 
Apostle  Paul  smites  in  his  second  epistle  to  the  Corinthians, 
For  such  false  apostles,  he  saith,  are  deceitful  workmen , 
transfiguring  themselves  into  the  Apostles  of  Christ  (xi.  13). 
What  is  transfiguring  themselves  'into  Apostles  of  Christ  f 
The  Apostles  alleged  examples  from  the  divine  law — they 
likewise  alleged  them ;  the  Apostles  alleged  the  authorities  of 
the  Psalms — they  likewise  alleged  them  ;  the  Apostles  alleged 
sentences  of  the  prophets,  and  still  they  also  alleged  them. 
But  when  those  things  which  were  alleged  alike,  began  not  to 
be  interpreted  alike,  then  were  the  simple  discerned  from  the 
crafty,  then  the  sincere  from  the  counterfeit,  then  the  up 
right  from  the  perverse — then,  in  fine,  the  true  apostles  from 
the  false.  And  no  wonder,  he  says,  for  Satan  himself 
transfigureth  himself  into  an  angel  of  light :  therefore  it  is 
no  great  thing,  if  his  ministers  be  transfigured  as  the  minis 
ters  of  justice  (xi.  14,  15).  Therefore,  according  to  the  teach 
ing  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  as  often  as  either  false  apostles  or 
false  prophets,  or  false  doctors,  allege  sentences  from  the  divine 
law  by  which,  ill-interpreted,  they  may  endeavor  to  establish 
their  own  errors,  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  they  follow  the 
crafty  devices  of  their  author ;  which  he  assuredly  never 
would  have  invented,  but  that  he  knew  full  well  that  there 
is  no  readier  way  to  deceive,  than  where  the  fraudulency 


PRIVATE  JUDGMENT.  385 

of  nefarious  error  is  covertly  introduced,  that  there  the  au 
thority  of  the  words  of  God  be  pretended  (or,  held  out).1 

But  some  one  may  say,  whence  is  it  proved  that  the  devil 
useth  to  allege  examples  out  of  the  divine  law  \  Let  him  read 
the  Gospels,  wherein  it  is  written,  Then  the  devil  took  him  up, 
&G.  (St.  Matt.  iv.  5,  6).  What  will  he  not  do  to  poor  weak  men, 
he  who  assailed  the  Lord  of  majesty  Himself  with  testimonies 
of  the  Scriptures  ?  If,  says  he,  Thou  be  the  Son  of  God,  cast 
Tfiyself  down.  Why  so  ?  for  it  is  written,  quoth  he.  The 
doctrine  of  this  place  is  to  be  by  us  diligently  attended  to  and 
borne  in  mind,  that,  by  so  notable  an  example  of  Gospel  au 
thority,  we  may  in  nowise  doubt,  when  we  see  any  allege  the 
apostolic  or  prophetic  words  against  the  Catholic  faith,  that  the 
devil  speaks  by  these  men.  .  .  .  But  what,  finally,  saith  he  ? 
If,  he  says,  Thou  he  the  Son  of  God,  cast  Thyself  down. 
That  is,  Thou  wishest  to  be  the  Son  of  God,  and  to  receive  the 
inheritance  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  cast  Thyself  down,  that 
is,  cast  Thyself  down  from  the  doctrine  and  tradition  of  this 
lofty  Church,  which  also  is  reputed  to  be  the  temple  of  God. 
And  if  any  interrogate  any  one  of  the  heretics  who  is  persuad 
ing  him  to  these  things,  whence  doest  thou  prove,  whence 
doest  thou  teach,  that  I  ought  to  cast  aside  the  universal  and 
ancient  faith  of  the  Catholic  Church  ?  Straightway  he  (an 
swers),  For  it  is  written?  And  forthwith  he  sets  forth  a  thou 
sand  testimonies,  a  thousand  examples,  a  thousand  authorities, 
from  the  law,  from  the  psalms,  from  the  Apostles,  from  the 
prophets,  by  which,  interpreted  in  a  new  and  evil  manner,  the 
unhappy  soul  may  be  cast  headlong  from  the  Catholic  citadel 
into  the  deep  abyss  of  heresy.3  .  .  .  But  some  one  may  say,  if 
both  the  devil  and  his  disciples,  whereof  some  are  false  apos- 

1  Nisi  sciret  omnino  nullam  esse  ad  fallendum  faciliorem  viam,  quam 
ut,  ubi  nefarii  erroris  subundicitur  fraudulentia,  ibi  divinorum  verborum 
praetendatur  auctoritas. 

2  Unde  probas,  unde  doces,  quod  ecclesiae  catholicae  universalem  et  anti- 
quarn  fidem  dimittere  debeam?    Statim  ille,  Scriphtm  est  enim. 

3  Quibus  novo  et  malo  more  interpretatis,  ex  arce  catholica  in  haereseos 
barathrum  infelix  anima  precipitetur. 


386  PRIVATE  JUDGMENT. 

ties  and  false  prophets  and  false  teachers,  and  all  utterly 
heretics,  do  use  the  divine  sayings,  sentences,  and  promises, 
what  shall  Catholic  men,  and  sons  of  our  mother  the  Church, 
do  ?  In  what  way  shall  they  in  the  holy  Scriptures  discern 
truth  from  falsehood  ?"  (For  continuation,  see  "  The  Church 
tfie  Expounder  of  Scripture  "). — Adv.  Ilceres.  n.  xxv.  xxvi. 

ABNOBIUS  JUNIOB,  L.  C. — "  He  that  shall  be  found  without 
a  ship  in  this  great  sea,  shall  meet  with  tfie  dragon  which  has 
been  formed  to  make  sport  of  them  (Ps.  ciii.)  .  .  .  with  those, 
that  is,  who  repudiate  the  ships,  and  deliver  themselves  up, 
like  animals,  to  the  waves  and  depths  of  the  law,  without  a 
master  who  is  a  Catholic,  and  who  derives  the  tradition  of  the 
law  from  the  Apostles.  Wherefore,  because  that  they  are 
without  the  Church,"  <fec.,  as  given  under  "  Authority ."- 
Comm.  in  Ps.  ciii.  p.  295 ;  t.  viii.  Bill.  Maxim.  SS.  PP. 

ST.  GELASIUS  L,  POPE,  L.  C. — "  Is  there  anything  which  it 
is  lawful  for  us  to  quash  of  those  things  which  have  been  con 
demned  by  the  venerable  fathers  ?  Why  is  it  that  we  are  so 
exceedingly  on  our  guard,  that  the  ruinous  doctrine  of  any 
heresy  that  has  once  been  cast  aside,  may  not  again  strive  to 
be  brought  under  a  second  examination  ?  If  we  attempt  to 
restore  the  things  which  by  our  forefathers  have  been  taken 
cognizance  of,  discussed,  and  refuted,  do  not  we  ourselves 
set  an  example — which  God  forefend,  and  which  the  Catholic 
Church  will  never  permit — to  all  the  enemies  of  truth  to  rise 
up  against  us  ?  Where  is  that  which  is  written,  Thou  shalt 
not  go  ~beyond  the  hounds  of  thy  fathers ;  and,  Ask  thy 
fathers,  and  they  will  declare  to  ihee  •  and  thy  elders,  and 
they  will  tell  thee  (Deut.  xxxii.)  Why,  therefore,  do  we  go 
beyond  the  things  defined  by  our  forefathers  ;  or  why  suffice 
they  not  for  us  ?  If,  being  ignorant  on  any  point,  we  wish 
for  instruction,  as  to  each  of  the  points  which,  by  the  orthodox 
fathers  and  elders,  have  been  enjoined,  either  as  to  be  avoided, 
or  as  to  be  connected  with  Catholic  truth,  why  are  they  not 
proved  to  have  been  decreed  by  these  men  ?  Are  we  wiser 
than  they,  or  shall  we  be  able,  with  stable  firmness,  to  come 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  387 

to  a  clearer  determination  ?" — Ad.  Honor.  Dalm.  Epis.  col. 
1172-3,  t.  iv.  Ldbb.  Condi. 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 


BY  apostolical  traditions,  are  understood  such  points  of 
Catholic  belief  and  practice,  as,  not  committed  to  writing  in 
the  holy  Scriptures,  have  come  down  in  an  unbroken  series  of 
oral  delivery,  and  varied  testimony,  from  the  apostolic  ages. 
Among  many  of  these  traditions,  as  we  have  already  seen  (Art. 
"  Scriptures  "),  may  be  placed,  in  the  first  place,  and  by  way 
of  illustration,  the  authentic  canon  of  the  books  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testament,  carefully  separated  from  all  spurious  and 
apocryphal  admixture,  preserved  in  the  Church,  and  trans 
mitted  to  us. 

SCKIPTURE. 

1  Cor.  xi.  2,  23,  24.  —  "  Now  I  praise  you,  brethren,  that  in 
all  things  you  are  mindful  of  me  ;  and  keep  my  ordinances  as 
I  have  delivered  them  to  you.1  .  .  .  For  I  have  received  of  the 
Lord  that  which  also  I  delivered  unto  you,  that  the  Lord  Jesus, 
the  same  night  in  which  He  was  betrayed,  took  bread  .  .  .  and 
the  rest  I  will  set  in  order  when  I  come." 

2  Thess.  ii.  3,  14.  —  "  Let  no  man  deceive  you  by  any  means. 
.  .  .  Therefore,  brethren,  stand  fast  :  and  hold  the  traditions 
which  you  have  learned,  whether  by  word  or  by  our  epistle.  "- 
Of.  iii.  6. 

1  Tim.  vi.  20.  —  "  O  Timothy,  keep  that  which  is  committed 
to  thy  trust,  avoiding  the  profane  novelties  of  words,  and  oppo 
sitions  of  knowledge  falsely  so  called." 

2  Tim.  i.  13,  14.  —  "  Hold  the  form  of  sound  words  which  thou 


1  Kal  na(JG)$  napedooHa  v/uiv  rdS  TtapadodeiS  KaT£xETE>  and  as  I  de 
livered  unto  you,  you  keep  the  traditions. 


388  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

hast  heard  of  me  in  faith,  and  in  the  love  which  is  in  Christ 
Jesus.  Keep  the  good  thing  committed  to  thy  trust  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  who  dwelleth  in  us  ;  (ii.  2)  and  the  things  which 
thou  hast  heard  of  me  by  many  witnesses,  the  same  commend  to 
faithful  men,  who  shall  be  fit  to  teach  others  also."  —  Of.  iii.  14. 

CENTURY    II. 

ST.  IGNATIUS,  G.  C.  —  See  the  statement  relative  to  this  father 
and  his  writings,  given  in  this  section  from  Eusebim,  Hist. 
£ccles.  1.  iii.  c.  xxxvi. 

ST.  POLYCARP.  —  "  So  also  Polycarp,  who  not  only  had  been 
instructed  by  Apostles,  and  had  conversed  with  many  who  had 
seen  the  Lord,  but  was  also  appointed,  by  Apostles,  bishop  of 
Smyrna,  in  Asia.  Him  we  saw  in  our  early  youth.  .  .  .  The 
things  which  he  had  learned  from  the  Apostles,  those  he  uni 
formly  taught,  which  also  he  delivered  to  the  Church,  which 
also  alone  are  true.  To  these  all  the  churches  throughout  Asia, 
and  they  who  to  this  day  have  succeeded  to  Polycarp,  bear  tes 
timony  —  being  a  witness  of  the  truth,  much  more  credible  and 
more  faithful  than  Valentinus  and  Marcion,  and  the  rest  of  the 
perverse  thinkers."  '  —  St.  Irenceus,  adv.  Ilceres.  I.  iii.  c.  3,  n.  4, 
p.  175,  as  given  under  u  Apostolicity" 

PAPIAS,  G.  C.a  —  The  following  is  preserved  by  Eusebius  :— 
"  He  (Papias),  in  the  preface  to  his  works,  shows  that  he  had 
by  no  means  heard  or  seen  the  sacred  Apostles  ;  but  he  tells  us 
that  he  received  the  matters  of  faith  from  persons  well  ac- 

1  And  this  account  of  St.  Polycarp  may,  perhaps,  be  confirmed  by  the 
brief  epistle  which  has  come  down  to  us.  For  in  the  seventh  section  of 
that  epistle,  having  noticed  that  some  had  perverted  the  meaning  of  the 
written  word,  he  seems  to  refer  to  the  unwritten  delivery  of  Christ's  doc 
trines:  "  Whosoever  perverts  the  oracles  of  the  Lord  to  his  own  desires,  and 
says  that  there  is  neither  resurrection  nor  judgment,  he  is  the  first-born  of 
Satan.  Wherefore,  leaving  the  vanity  of  many,  and  false  doctrines,  let  us 
turn  to  the  word  transmitted  to  us  from  the  beginning."  —  Ad  Philipp.  n.  7. 
°O$  av  usQoSevy  rd  \6yia  rov  Kvpiov,  itpo1-,  rd$  i8ia$ 


9  Bishop  of  Hieropolis,  "  the  hearer  of  John  and  the  friend  of  Polycarp  '* 
(Euseb.  H.  E.  i.  36):  he  composed  five  books  on  the  "Discourses  of  our 
Lord,"  but  a  few  fragments  of  which  remain,  preserved  by  Eusebius.  They 
are  also  given  by  Gallandius,  t.  i. 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  389 

quainted  with  the  Apostles.  '  I  shall  not  hesitate,'  he  says,  '  to 
arrange  before  you  whatsoever  I  once  well  learned  from  the 
elders,  and  which  I  have  also  well  retained  in  my  memory, 
together  with  my  own  interpretations,  confirming  thereby  the 
triith.  For  I  was  not  a  person  that  was  pleased,  like  the  many, 
with  men  of  much  speech,  but  with  men  who  taught  the  truth ; 
nor  with  men  who  commemorated  strange  precepts,  but  with 
those  who  commemorated  the  precepts  consigned  by  the  Lord 
to  our  faith,  and  which  proceeded  from  the  very  truth.  And 
if  any  one  came  to  me  who  had  accompanied  the  elders,  I  ques 
tioned  him  concerning  their  words ;  what  Andrew  or  Peter 
said ;  what  Philip,  Thomas,  James,  John,  and  Matthew,  or  any 
other  of  the  Lord's  disciples ;  what  Aristion,  and  John  the 
presbyter,  the  disciples  of  the  Lord,  are  saying.  For  I  did  not 
think  that  what  is  in  books  would  aid  me  as  much  as  what 
came  from  the  living  and  abiding  voice." — Ap.  Euseb.  II.  E.  I. 
iii.  c.  39 ;  or  Gotland,  t.  i. 

ST.  IKEN^EUS. — 1.  "  When  (these  heretics)  are  convicted  out 
of  the  Scriptures,  they  turn  round  and  blame  the  Scrip 
tures  themselves,  as  not  being  accurate,  as  not  being  from 
authority,  and  as  being  variously  expressed,  and  because 
the  truth  cannot  be  found  out  of  them  by  those  who  may  be 
ignorant  of  tradition.  For  that  truth  was  handed  down  not  by 
letters,  but  by  a  living  voice ;  and  that  on  this  account  Paul 
said,  But  we  speak  wisdom  among  the  perfect  :  yet  not  the  wis 
dom  of  this  world  (1  Cor.  xi.  6).  And  this  wisdom,  each  one 
of  them  declares,  is  that  which  he  has  invented  of  himself — 
a  mere  fiction  that  is,  according  to  which  that  is  deserving  of 
the  name  of  truth,  which  at  one  time  is  in  Yalentinus,  and  at 
another  time  in  Marcion,  and  then  in  Cerinthus ;  and  which, 
later,  was  next  in  Basilides,  or  in  any  one  who  is  contentious, 
though  unable  to  utter  anything  to  profit.  For  each  one  of 
them,  in  his  utter  perverseness,  perverting  the  rule  of  truth, 
is  not  ashamed  to  preach  up  himself. 

2.  "  But  when,  on  the  other  hand,  we  challenge  them  to  that 
tradition  which  is  from  the  Apostles,  which  is  preserved  in  the 


390  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

churches  through  the  successions  of  presbyters^  they  are  ad 
verse  to  tradition,  saying,  that  being  themselves  not  only  wiser 
than  presbyters,  but  even  than  Apostles,  they  have  discovered 
the  genuine  truth.  .  .  .  Thus  it  turns  out  that,  at  last,  they 
neither  assent  to  the  Scriptures  nor  to  tradition."* — Adv. 
Hares.  1.  iii.  c.  2,  n.  1,  2,  pp.  174-5. 

"  These  dogmas,  Florinus,  to  speak  compassionately,  are  not 
of  sound  doctrine.  These  dogmas  are  not  in  accordance  with 
the  Church ;  and  they  fling  those  who  believe  them  into  the 
greatest  impiety  ;  these  dogmas  not  even  the  heretics,  who  are 
w'dhout  the  Church,  have  ever  dared  to  produce  ;  these  dogmas 
the  presbyters  before  us,  and  who  shone  together  with  the 
Apostles,  delivered  not  to  you." J  —Fragin.  Ep.  ad  Florinum, 

1  Quum  autem  ad  earn  iterum  traditionem,  quae  est  ab  apostolis,  quae  per 
successiones  presbyterorum  in  ecclesiis  custoditur,  provocamus  eos. 

2  Evenit  itaque,  neque  scripturis  jam,  neque  tradition!  consentire  eos. 
Whew,  and  by  what  means,  apostolical  tradition  is  preserved,  may  be  seen 
in  the  first  extract  from  St.  Irenaeus,  given  under  "  Apostolicity,"  where 
the  passage  cited  above  is  continued :  and  in  the  ensuing  chapter,  which 
will  be  found  under  "Authority." 

3  Tavra  rd  doy^iara  oi  itpo  rjntiv  irpetifivrspoi  oi  xal  roll  dno6- 
ToXoiS  6vf.i(f>oiTr]6avrE^)   ov  Ttapedooxav  dot.      The  following,  which  is 
the  continuation  of  the  passage  in  the  text,  also  deserves  notice:  "For, 
when  I  was  yet  but  a  boy,  I  saw  you  in  Lower  Asia,  with  Polycarp,  whilst 
you  were  behaving  admirably  in  the  royal  palace,  and  striving  to  obtain  his 
(Polycarp's)  favorable  opinion.  ...     I  could  tell  the  very  place  where  the 
bishop  Polycarp  sat  as  he  discoursed,  and  his  goings  out  and  his  comings  in, 
and  the  character  of  his  life,  and  his  bodily  appearance,  and  the  discourses 
which  he  addressed  to  the  multitude,  and  how  he  narrated  his  daily  inter 
course  with  John,  and  with  others  that  had  seen  the  Lord :  and  how  he  com 
memorated  their  discourses;  and  what  were  the  things  which  he  had  heard 
from  them  concerning  the  Lord,  and  concerning  His  miracles  and  His  doc 
trines;  how  Polycarp, — having  received  them  from  those  who  had  seen  the 
Word  of  Life, — narrated  the  whole   in   consonance  with    the   Scriptures. 
These  things  did  I,  at  that  time,  hearken  to  eagerly  through  the  mercy  of 
God  then  shown  me,  making  remembrance  of  them,  not  on  paper,  but  in 
my  heart;  and,  by  the  grace  of  God,  I  ever  revolve  them  in  my  mind.    And 
I  can  testify  before  God,  that  if  that  blessed  and  apostolic  priest  had  heard 
anything  like  this,  that  exclaiming  and  closing  his  ears,  and  saying,  as  was 
usual  with  him,  '  Good  God,  unto  what  times  hast  thou  reserved  me  that  T 
should  endure  this,'  he  would,  on  hearing  such  words,  have  fled  from  the 
spot  where  he  sat  or  stood.     Yea,  from  his  epistles,  whether  those  sent  to 
the  neighboring  churches,  to  strengthen  them,  or  to  certain  of  the  brethren, 
admonishing  and  exhorting  them,— this  may  be  clearly  shown."— T.  i.  pp. 
339-40,  Gotland. 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  391 

t.  i.  p.  339  (Ex.  Euseb.  H.  E.  I.  v.  c.  20).  See  also  the  first  and 
second  extracts  given  under  "  Authority" 

CLEMENT  OF  ALEXANDRIA,  G.  C.—  321.  "  He  the  eye  of  whose 
soul  has  been  dulled  by  bad  nourishment  and  instruction,  let 
him  go  to  the  real  light,  to  the  truth,  which  in  what  is  written 
indicates  the  things  not  written.1  .  .  . 

322.  "  This  work  is  not  intended  for  an  exhibition  of  art, 
but  I  have  treasured  up  these  memoranda  against  old  age,  as 
a  remedy  against  forgetfulness,  as  a  mere  image  and  outline 
of  these  clear  and  living  words  which  I  have  been  worthy  to 
hear,  and  of  men  blessed  and  really  deserving  of  honor.  With 
one  of  those  I  met  in  Greece,  the  Ionian  ;  with  another  in 
Magna  Grsecia  ;  the  former  was  from  Coele-Syria,  the  latter 
from  Egypt.  Some  also  there  were  from  the  east  ;  one  from 
Assyria  ;  another,  a  Hebrew  by  descent,  from  Palestine  :  he 
with  whom  I  last  met  was  the  first  in  power  ;  and  having  dis 
covered  him  lying  concealed  in  Egypt,  I  desisted  from  further 
search.  He  was  in  truth  a  Sicilian  bee,  who,  cropping  the 
flowers  of  the  prophetic  and  apostolic  meadow,  caused  a  pure 
knowledge  to  grow  up  in  the  minds  of  his  hearers.  But  these 
men  preserved  the  true  tradition  of  the  blessed  doctrine,  di 
rectly  from  Peter,  and  James,  and  John,  and  Paul,3  the  holy 
Apostles,  having  received  it  in  succession,  the  son  from  the 
father,8  though  few  resemble  their  fathers  :  at  length,  by  the 
blessing  of  God,  have  come  down  to  us,  and  they  have  de 
posited  (with  us),  those  apostolic  seeds  received  from  their 
forefathers  ;  and  I  well  know  that  they  will  rejoice,  not  that 
they  will  be  pleased,  I  mean,  with  the  mere  exposition,  but 


1  TTJV  £yrP<*<P<v$  rd  aypacpa. 

2  It  may  seem  strange  that  Clement  should  only  mention  three  of  the 
Apostles  ;  but  this  accords  with  a  statement  preserved  by  Eusebius  (H.  E.  I. 
ii.  c.  i.)  from  the  seventh  book  of  the  Hypotyposes  of  Clement:  "The  Lord 
communicated  the  knowledge  (rrjv  yvvdiv)  to  James,  to  John,  and  Peter, 
after  the  resurrection;  they  delivered  it  to  the  other  Apostles  ;  and  they  to 
the  seventy,  of  whom  Barnabas  was  one."     This  fragment  is  also  given  in 
Potter's  edition,  vol.  ii.  p.  1015. 


rrjv  aX^ri  rijs  vanapiaS  dGo&rreS  di8a<>KaMoi$itapddo6iv, 
dno  Ue'rpov  .  .  .  TtalS  napd  rtarpoS 


392  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

only  with  the  accurate  representation  of  what  they  have  de 
livered.  For  this,  I  think,  is  the  delineation  of  a  soul  that 
loves,  _  to  guard  the  blessed  tradition  so  that  it  may  not 
escape.  .  .  .  For  what  is  the  value  of  wisdom  which  does 
not  make  wise  him  who  is  able  to  hear  ?  Still  also  does  the 
Saviour  save,  and  He  always  worketh,  as  He  sees  the  Father 
(work).  He  who  teacheth  adds  to  his  knowledge,  and  often 
times  while  he  speaks,  hears  together  with  his  hearers.  For 
there  is  one  teacher,  both  of  him  who  speaks  and  of  him  who 
hears  ;  he  who  waters  both  the  understanding  and  the  speech. 
Wherefore  the  Lord  has  not  forbidden  us  to  rest  from  good,1 
but  has  permitted  us  to  impart  the  divine  mysteries,  and  that 
sacred  light,  to  those  who  are  able  to  receive  them.  But  He 
did  not  immediately  reveal  to  many  those  things  which  were 
not  for  many,  but  to  a  few  ;  to  whom  He  knew  them  to  be 
suited,  who  were  capable  both  of  receiving  them,  and  of  being 
conformed  to  them.  Secret  things,  like  God,  are  entrusted, 
not  to  writing,  but  to  oral  teaching.2  And  if  any  one  say  that 
it  is  written  that,  nothing  is  covered,  which  shall  not  be  mani 
fested,  nor  concealed  which  shall  not  be  revealed  (Matt.  x.  26), 
let  him  hear  from  us,  that  to  him  who  hearkeneth  in  secret, 
that  which  is  hidden  shall  be  manifested  .  .  .  and  to  him 
who  is  capable  of  receiving  in  secret  the  things  traditionally 
delivered,  that  which  is  concealed  shall  be  made  known,  so 
that  the  truth,  and  what  is  hidden  from  the  many,  may  be 
made  manifest  to  the  few.  .  .  .  (324).  The  mysteries  are 
mystically  delivered,  in  order  that  that  which  is  said  may  be 
in  the  speaker's  mouth,  or  rather,  not  in  speech,  but  in  the 
understanding. 

"  But  God  hath  given  to  the  Church  some  Apostles,  and 
some  prophets,  and  some  evangelists,  and  some  pastors  and 
doctors,  for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints,  for  the  work  of  the 
ministry,  for  the  edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ.  .  .  .  Some 
of  (these  secret  things)  I  deliberately  pass  by,  making  a  selec- 


1  'Aito  ayaQov 

1  Td  diaTt6pp7iTa,KaQditep  6  fcteoS,  Au>o»  jritireverat, 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  393 

tion  after  reflection,  being  afraid  to  commit  to  writing  things 
which  we  are  upon  our  guard  even  to  speak  about  ;  not  from 
any  envy,  for  that  is  not  lawful,  but  for  fear  lest  those  who 
may  meet  with  them,  taking  them  in  a  wrong  sense,  might  fall 
into  error,  and  we  should  thus  be  found  to  be  giving  —  as  they 
say  who  use  proverbs  —  '  a  sword  to  a  child.'  .  .  .  There  are 
some  things  which  my  writing  will  obscurely  indicate  ;  and 
on  some  things  it  will  dwell  ;  others  it  will  only  name,  and 
will  attempt,  though  concealing,  yet  to  declare,  and  though 
hiding  to  manifest,  and  though  silent  to  point  out  ;  and  it  will 
lay  before  the  reader  th.e  dogmas  that  have  been  taught  by 
celebrated  heresies,  and  will  oppose  to  them  all  those  things 
which  ought  to  be  premised  to  the  interior  contemplation  of 
knowledge,  which  will  be  proceeded  in  by  us  according  to  the 
celebrated  and  venerable  rule  (canon)  of  tradition*  commenc 
ing  from  the  origin  of  the  universe,  setting  forth  those  points 
of  physical  contemplation  which  are  necessary  to  be  premised, 
and  first  removing  whatever  may  be  an  obstacle  in  the  way, 
so  that  the  ears  may  be  prepared  for  the  reception  of  the  tra 
dition  of  true  belief  (gnostic)."  2  —  Strom.  I.  i.  pp.  321-5. 

[In  the  fifth  book  of  the  Stromata  are  found  many  remark 
able  statements  regarding  written  and  unwritten  doctrines, 
and  the  privileged  persons  to  whom  perfect  knowledge  was 
communicated.  At  p.  682  he  quotes  what  St.  Paul  says 
(Ephes.  c.  iii.  3,  4,  5)  respecting  his  knowledge  in  the  mystery 
of  Christ,  and  adds  :]  "  For  there  is  a  certain  instruction  even 
of  the  perfect,  concerning  which  Paul  writes  to  the  Colossians 
(i.  9-11,  25-7).  So  that  some  mysteries  were  concealed  until 
the  times  of  the  Apostles,  and  were  by  them  transmitted  as 
they  received  them  from  the  Lord  ;  concealed  in  the  Old 
Testament,  but  now  made  known  to  the  saints" 

[He  then,  p.  683,  quotes  several  passages  from  St.  Paul  to 

Kara  TOV  evnXerf  nod  6Efj.vov  rift  rcapaftotizooz  navova. 


2  TrjS  yvoGriurfS  TtapadotiEaoS  .  yvootiiS,  in  Clement,  is  the  knowledge 
possessed  by  the  perfect  Christian:  yv&GriKoz,  the  knowledge  reserved  to 
the  few.  This  gnostic  tradition  is  frequently  mentione.i.  See  Strom,  i.  p. 
325;  iv.  564;  vi.  771. 


394  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

show  that  this  knowledge  was  not  vouchsafed  to  all  believers  :] 
"  And  yet  more  clearly  does  he  show  that  the  knowledge  be 
longs  not  to  all,1  adding  :  Praying  withal  for  us  also,  that 
God  may  open  unto  us  a  door  to  speak  the  mystery  of  Christ, 
for  which  also  1  am  hound,  that  I  may  make  it  manifest, 
as  1  ought  to  speak  (Coloss.  iv.  3,  4).  There  were  some 
things  delivered  to  the  Hebrews  without  writing" a  [And  this 
Clement  proves  by  quoting  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (v.  12- 
14,  vi.  1).  In  p.  684,  he  quotes  other  passages  of  Scripture 
to  prove  the  same  point,  and  proceeds  thus  :]  "  /  know,  saith 
the  Apostle,  that  when  I  come  to  you,  1  shall  come  in  the 
abundance  of  the  blessing  of  Christ  (Rom.  xv.  29).  He 
wishes  in  person  to  communicate  to  them  personally  the 
spiritual  gift,  and  the  Gnostic  tradition,8  for  these  things  were 
not  such  as  could  be  imparted  by  an  epistle.  .  .  .  Again  he 
thus  teaches  :  And  f,brethren,  could  not  speak  to  you  as  unto 
spiritual,  but  as  unto  carnal :  as  unto  little  ones  in  Christ  : 
1  gave  you  milk  to  drink,  not  meat  ;  for  you  were  not  able  as 
yet.  But  neither  indeed  are  you  now  able,  for  you  are  yet 
carnal  (1  Cor.  iii.  1,  2).  If  then  milk  is  for  children,  and 
meat  is,  by  the  Apostle,  called  the  food  of  the  perfect ;  milk 
will  signify  catechetical  instruction,  as  the  first  nourishment 
of  the  soul ;  and  meat  the  contemplation  which  penetrates  into 
all  mysteries,  the  very  flesh  and  blood  of  the  word,  that  is,  the 
comprehension  of  the  divine  power  and  essence." — Strom.  I. 
v.  pp.  082-5. 

"  If  then  we  call  Christ  wisdom,  and  His  the  active  power 
displayed  through  the  prophets,  by  means  of  which  it  is  in  our 
power  to  learn  the  Gnostic  tradition,  as  He  in  person  taught 
the  holy  Apostles ;  wisdom  would  be  the  firm  and  sure  know 
ledge,  being  the  knowledge  and  comprehension  of  things  pre 
sent,  future  and  past,  as  delivered  and  revealed  by  the  Son  of 
God.  .  .  .  Whilst  knowledge  itself  is  that  which  has  come 

1  To  nrj  Ttdvrwv  Eivai  Tyv  yv&6iv. 

s  Hv  yap  Tiro.  dypdcpooS  Ttapadido^eva  avrina. 

s  Trfv  yvGo6TiKr}v  TtapdSotiiv. 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  395 

down,  transmitted  without  writing  to  a  few  by  successions 
from  the  Apostles."  '  —  Strom.  1.  vi.  p.  771. 

"  In  the  same  manner  as  if  one  became,  from  being  a  man,  a 
brute,  as  they  did  who  were  under  the  drugs  of  Circe,  so  he 
has  ceased  to  be  a  man  of  God,  and  faithful  to  the  Lord,  who 
has  thrown  aside  the  ecclesiastical  tradition,  and  plunged  into 
the  opinions  of  human  heresies."  2  —  Ibid.  1.  vii.  p.  890. 

"  For  as  the  doctrine,  so  also  was  the  tradition  of  all  the 
Apostles,  one."  3  —  Ibid.  1.  vii.  p.  900.  See  also  the  extract  from 
Pcedagog.  I.  i.  c.  v.  p.  108,  given  under  "  Authority" 

TEKTULLIAN,  L.  C.  —  1.  "  Inasmuch  as  they  advance  this  ob 
jection  also,  '  Where  are  we  forbidden  to  wear  crowns  ?  '  I 
shall  attack  this  '  where  '  —  the  more  specific  shape  of  the  pre 
sent  question.  .  .  . 

2.  "  I  say  that  no  believer  allows  a  crown  upon  his  head  on 
any  other  time,  except  the  time  of  this  sort  of  temptation.  All 
observe  this  rule  from  the  time  of  their  being  catechumens 
up  to  becoming  confessors  and  martyrs,  or  their  apostasy. 
Whence  the  authority  for  this  rule,  which  is  now  made  the 
chief  question,  is  for  thee  to  look  to.  Moreover,  when  it  is 
made  a  question  why  a  thing  is  observed,  it  is  meanwhile 
granted  that  it  is  observed.  Wherefore,  that  cannot  be 
thought  to  be  no  sin,  which  is  committed  against  a  rule 
which,  as  such,  ought  to  be  maintained  for  its  own  sake,  and 

jt  rf  Hard  diadoxdt  £t$  oXiyovS  EH  r<Sv 


rf}v  iHKXrj(5ia<5riHrfv  Ttapddotiiv. 

3  M.ia  ...  77  6idadHaA.ia,  ovraoS  de  KO.L  rj  TtapddodiZ.  The  follow 
ing,  which  occurs  earlier,  viz.,  Pcedag.  L  Hi.  p.  299,  is  deserving  of  notice: 
'  '  But  all,  you  will  say,  do  not  aspire  to  philosophy.  Do  we  not  all  pursue 
life?  What  do  you  say?  How  then  did  you  believe?  How  then  do  you 
love  God  and  your  neighbor,  unless  you  love  philosophy?  or  how  do  you 
love  yourself,  if  you  love  not  life?  You  say,  'I  have  not  learned  letters.' 
But  if  you  have  not  learned  to  read,  there  is  no  excuse  for  not  hearing,  as 
hearing  is  not  taught.  Faith  is  the  possession  of  those  who  are  wise,  not  ac 
cording  to  the  world,  but  according  to  God  ;  it  is  learned  even  without  letter 
(r)  8s,  nal  arev  ypamidTGov  fXTfaideverai);  and  its  writing,  which  is 
at  once  divine,  and  accommodated  to  the  ignorant,  is  called  love,  a  spiritual 
composition." 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

is  sufficiently  warranted  by  the  support  of  general  consent. 
Doubtless,  provided  that  the  reason  of  it  may  be  inquired  into! 
but  without  touching  the  observance,  nor  to  overthrow  it,  but 
rather  to  build  it  up ;  that  thou  mayest  the  more  observe  it, 
when  thou  art  easy  even  with  respect  to  the  reason  of  it.     For 
what  sort  of  thing  is  it,  for  a  man  to  call  in  question  an  ob 
servance  when  he  has  abandoned  it,  and  to  ask  for  its  origin 
when  he  has  ceased  from  it?  ...  The  question  on  this  point 
is  endless,  and  I  commend  the  faith  which  believed  that  the 
observance  was  to  be  kept  before  it  had  learned  why.     And  it 
is  easy  to  ask  on  the  instant,  <  Where  is  it  written  that  we  may 
not  be  crowned  ?'     But  where  is  it  written  that  we  may  be 
crowned  ?     For  they  who  demand  the  support  of  Scripture  on 
the  other  side,  already  judge  that  their  side  also  ought  to  have 
the  support  of  Scripture.     For  if  it  shall  be  said  that  we  may 
be  crowned  because  Scripture  forbids  it  not,  it  may  be  equally 
retorted  that  we  may  not  be  crowned,  because  Scripture  com 
mands  it  not.      What  shall  religion  do  ?     Shall  it  admit  both, 
because  neither  is  forbidden  ?  or  reject  both,  because  neither  is 
commanded  ?     But  (thou  wilt  say)  that  which  is  not  forbidden, 
is  freely  permitted.     Nay,  but  that  is  forbidden,  which  is  not 
freely  permitted. 

"  And  how  long  shall  we  go  on,  sawing  backwards  and 
forwards  upon  this  line,  when  we  have  an  old-established  ob 
servance,  which,  in  preventing  the  question,  has  settled  it  ?  If 
no  Scripture  has  determined  this  (observance),  assuredly  cus 
tom  has  confirmed  it,  which  doubtless  has  been  derived  from 
tradition.  For  how  can  a  thing  be  used,  unless  it  be  first 
handed  down  to  us  ?  But  (thou  sayest),  <  Even  where  tradition 
is  pleaded,  written  authority  is  to  be  required.'  Therefore,  let 
us  inquire  whether  even  tradition,  unless  written,  ought  not 
to  be  received.1  Certainly  we  shall  deny  that  it  ought  to  be 
received,  if  there  be  no  precedents  to  determine  the  contrary 
in  other  observances,  which,  without  any  Scripture  document, 
we  defend  on  the  title  of  tradition  alone,  and  by  the  support 
1  Quaeramus  an  et  traditio  nisi  scripta  non  debeat  recipi. 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  397 

of  consequent  custom.  In  fact,  to  begin  with,  baptism  :  when 
we  are  about  to  come  to  the  water,  in  the  same  place,  but  at  a 
somewhat  earlier  time,  we  do  in  the  Church  testify,  under  the 
hand  of  a  chief  minister,  that  we  renounce  the  devil  and  his 
pomp  and  his  angels.  Then  are  we  thrice  dipped,  pledging 
ourselves  to  something  more  than  the  Lord  has  prescribed  in 
the  Gospel ;  then,  some  undertaking  the  charge  of  us,  we  first 
taste  a  mixture  of  honey  and  milk,  and  from  that  day  we  ab 
stain  for  a  whole  week  from  our  daily  washing.  The  sacra 
ment  of  the  Eucharist,  commanded  by  the  Lord  at  the  time  of 
supper,  and  to  all,  we  receive  even  at  our  meetings  before  day 
break,  and  from  the  hands  of  no  others  than  of  those  who  are 
the  presidents.  We  make,  on  one  day  every  year,  oblations 
for  the  dead,  as  for  their  birthdays.1  On  the  Lord's  day  we 
account  it  unlawful  to  fast,  or  to  worship  upon  the  knees. 
We  enjoy  the  same  freedom  from  Easter-day  even  unto  Pen 
tecost.  What  anxiety  we  suffer  if  any  of  the  wine  (chalice), 
or  even  of  our  bread,  fall  to  the  ground.  In  all  our  travels 
and  movements,  in  all  our  coming  in  and  going  out,  in  putting 
on  our  clothes  and  shoes,  at  the  bath,  at  the  table,  in  lighting 
our  lamps,  in  lying  down,  in  sitting  down,  whatever  employ 
ment  occupies  us,  we  mark  (wear)  our  forehead  with  the  sign 
of  the  cross." 

4.  "  For  these  and  such  like  rules  if  thou  requirest  a  law 
in  the  Scriptures,  thou  shalt  find  none.  Tradition  will  be 
pleaded  to  thee  as  originating,  custom  as  confirming,  and 
faith  as  observing  them.  That  reason  will  support  tradition, 
and  custom,  and  faith,  thou  wilt  either  thyself  perceive,  or 
learn  from  some  one  who  has  perceived  it.  ...  By  these  ex 
amples,  therefore,  it  will  be  declared,  that  an  unwritten  tradi 
tion  may  be  maintained  in  its  observance,  being  confirmed  by 
custom,  a  sufficient  witness  of  a  tradition  at  the  time  approved 
by  the  continuance  of  the  observance.  But  even  in  civil  mat 
ters  custom  is  taken  for  law,  where  there  is  no  law ;  nor  is 
there  any  difference  whether  it  be  founded  on  any  writing  or 
1  Oblationes  pro  defunctis,  pro  natalitiis  annua  die  facimus. 


398  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

on  reason,  since  it  is  reason  which  commends  even  written 
authority." — De  Corona,  pp.  101-2.1 

"  With  these  designs,  I  am  of  opinion,  it  is,  that  thou,  Mar- 
cion,  hast  dared  to  do  away  with  so  many  original  documents 
of  Christ.     I  ask  thee,  by  what   authority?     If  thou  art  a 
prophet,  foretell  something  ;  if  an  apostle,  preach  publicly  ;  if 
an  apostolic  man,  agree  in  sentiment  with  the  Apostles ;  if  thou 
art  a  Christian  only,  believe  what  has  been  handed  down  ;a  if 
thou  art  none  of  these,  I  should  be  justified  in  saying,  die :  for 
thou  art  even  dead,  who  art  not  a  Christian,  from  not  believ 
ing  that,  which  being  believed  makes  Christians.     And  thou 
art  the  more  dead,  the  more  thou  art  not  a  Christian,  who,  when 
thou  wert  one,  hast  fallen  away,  by  rescinding  what  previously 
thou  didst  believe,  as  even  thou  thyself  acknowledgest  in  a 
certain  epistle  ;  and  thy  followers  do  not  deny,  and  ours  prove. 
Therefore,  in  the  act  of  rescinding  what  thou  didst  believe, 
already  didst  thou,  destitute  of  belief,  rescind  ;  not  however 
because  thou  didst  cease  to  believe,  didst  thou  act  right  in 
rescinding ;   yea,    in    rescinding  what  thou    hadst    believed, 
thou  provest  that  before  thou  didst  rescind,  thy  belief  was 
different.       That    was    different,    so    it    had    been    handed 
down ;    now,    that     which    had    been    handed    down,    that 
was    true,    as    having    been   handed  down    by   those    whose 
it   was    to    hand    down.3      Therefore,    in   rescinding    what 
had    been    handed    down,    thou    didst    rescind    what    was 
true.      Without    any   right    thou    didst    it.     But    elsewhere 
we    have    already   more   fully   used   this   plea   of    prescrip 
tion   against  all  heresies." — De  Came  Christi,  n.  2,  p.  308. 
See  also  I.  i.  Adv.  Marcion,  n.  19-21,  pp.  37-1-5.     For  other 
extracts,  see  "  Apostolicity  "  and  "  Private  Judgment." 

1  This  treatise  is  supposed  to  contain  traces  of  Montanisra,  and  to  be  the 
earliest  of  Tertullian's  writings,  in  which  the  errors  of  that  sect  are  found. 
The  object  of  the  tract  is,  to  prove  that  a  Christian  soldier  had  acted  as 
Christianity  required  of  him,  in  refusing  to  wear  the  crown  conferred  on  the 
victorious  soldiers. 

2  Si  tantum  Christianus  es,  crede  quod  traditura  est. 

3  Porro  quod  traditum  est,  id  erat  verum,  ut  ab  eis  traditum  quorum  fuit 
trade  re. 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  399 

CENTURY    III. 

SERAPION,  G.  C.1 — "  We  receive,  even  as  Christ,  both  Peter 
and  the  rest  of  the  Apostles ;  but  writings  which  falsely  bear 
their  names,  as  experienced  men  we  reject,  since  we  know  that 
we  have  no  such  books  transmitted  to  us.' ' — Ex.  Lib.  de  Ev. 
Petri  (Ex.  Euseb.  II.  E.  1.  vi.  c.  12),  Gallandii  BiU.  t.  u.p.  163. 

CAIUS,  L.  C.2 — "  These  men  profess  that  all  the  ancients,  and 
that  the  very  Apostles,  both  received  and  taught  the  things 
which  they  now  proclaim  ;  and  that  the  truth  of  the  gospel  was 
preserved  till  the  days  of  Victor,  who  was  the  thirteenth  Bishop 
of  Home,  from  Peter  ;  but  that,  from  the  time  of  Victor' s  suc 
cessor,  Zephyrinus,  the  truth  has  been  corrupted.  This  asser 
tion  of  theirs  might  possibly  be  credited,  if,  in  the  first  place, 
the  divine  Scriptures  were  not  opposed  to  them ;  and,  next, 
that  there  are  writings  of  certain  brethren  older  than  the  time 
of  Victor,  which  they  wrote  against  the  Gentiles  in  defence  of 
the  truth,  and  against  the  heresies  of  the  day, — I  mean  the  writ 
ings  of  Justin,  Miltiades,  Tatian,  Clement,  and  of  many  others, 
in  all  which  Christ  is  declared  God ; 3  for  as  to  the  writings  of 
Irenseus,  and  of  Melito,  and  the  rest,  who  is  ignorant  that  they 
proclaim  Christ,  God  and  man  ;  and  all  the  psalms  and  hymns, 
written  from  the  beginning  by  faithful  brethren,  celebrate 
Christ,  that  word  of  God,  declaring  Him  to  be  God.4  The  ec 
clesiastical  sentiment  having  been,  during  so  many  years,  pro 
claimed,  how  happens  it  that  these  men  taught,  to  Victor's 
days,  in  the  way  that  these  men  pretend  ?  How,  that  they  are 
not  ashamed  to  invent  this  falsehood  respecting  Victor  1  know 
ing  well  that  Victor  rejected  from  communion  Theodotus,  the 

1  Serapion  was  eighth  bishop  of  Antioch.      He  seems  to  have  died  about 
the  year  211.     The  fragments  of  his  writings  are  collected,  from  Eusebius, 
in  the  second  volume  of  Gallandius,  the  edition  used. 

2  Ap.  Euseb.  H.  E.  1.  v.  c.  28.     Eusebius  does  not  name  Cams, — who 
was  a  Roman  presbyter,  distinguished  by  numerous  writings,  of  which  a 
few  fragments  only  have  come  down  to  us. — as  the  author  of  this  extract, 
but  Pearson,  following  Photius,  ascribes  this  piece  to  him.     The  year  214  is 
the  date  assigned  to  him  by  Gallandius,  who  has  collected  his  remains  in  his 
second  volume. 

3  QEohoysTrai  6  XpidroS.  *  SsoXoyovvrsS. 


400  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

currier,  the  leader  and  parent  of  this  God-denying  apostasy,  he 
being  the  first  to  say  that  Christ  was  a  mere  man  ?  For,  if 
Victor  held,  as  they  say,  with  them,  why  then  did  he  cast  off 
Theodotus,  the  inventor  of  this  heresy?"  —  Gotland,  t.  ii.  Bib. 
Vet.  PP.  p.  204. 

ORIGEN,  G.  C.  —  "  As  some  of  them  think  differently  from 
those  who  have  gone  before,  let  there  be  preserved  the  ec 
clesiastical  teaching,  which,  transmitted  by  the  order  of  suc 
cession  from  the  Apostles,  remains  even  to  the  present  day 
in  the  churches  :  that  alone  is  to  be  believed  to  be  truth 
which  in  nothing  differs  from  the  ecclesiastical  and  apostolical 
tradition."  —  T.  i.  Lib.  de  Princip.  n.  2,  p.  47.  For  context  see 
"Authority" 

"  We  are  not  to  credit  these  men,  nor  to  go  out  from  the  first 

and  the  ecclesiastical  tradition  ;  nor  to  believe  otherwise  than 

as  the  churches  of  God  have  by  succession  transmitted  to  us." 

—  T.  iii.  Comm.  in  Matt.  n.  46,^?.  864.  For  the  context  see  "Au 

thority^ 

"  As  I  have  learned  by  tradition1  regarding  the  four  gospels, 
—which  also  are  the  only  undisputed  ones  in  the  Church  of  God 
which  is  under  heaven,  —  that  the  first  was  written,"  &c.  —  T. 
iii.  Comm.  in  Matt.  p.  440.  (Easel.  II.  E.  1.  vi.  c.  25.) 

"  For  this,  too,  has  the  Church  received  a  tradition  from  the 
Apostles,  to  give  baptism  even  to  children."*  —  T.  iv.  inEp.  ad 
Rom.  I.  v.  n.  9,/>.  565.  See  also  T.  iv.  Fraym.  in  Ep.  ad  Titum, 
p.  6<>6. 

"  If,  therefore,  any  church  holds  this  epistle  (Hebrews)  as 
Paul's,  let  it  receive  praise  on  this  account.  For  the  ancients 
have  not  rashly  transmitted  it  as  Paul's."  —  T.  iv.  Fragm.  in 
Ep.  ad  Ilebr.  p.  698. 

"  In  this  place  it  does  not  seem  to  me  that  the  soul  is  to  be 
understood  ;  for  fear  lest  I  may  fall  into  a  dogma,  opposed  to 
that  of  the  Church  of  God,  concerning  the  transmigration  of 
souls,  which  has  neither  been  transmitted  by  the  Apostles,  nor 


1  '£!<•,  £v  7tapa8o6fi 

2  Ecclesia  ab  apostolis  traclitionem  accepit. 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  401 

manifested  in  any  part  of  the  Scriptures."  '  —Galland.  t.  iii.  c.  x. 
p.  37.  (T.  iii.  Comm.  in  Matt.  I.  xiii.  ex  Pamphil.  Apolog.) 

ST.  HIPPOLYTUS,  G.  C.  —  "  When  the  blessed  presbyters  heard 
these  things  (the  errors  of  Noetus),  they  summoned  him  before 
the  Church  and  questioned  him.  He,  at  first,  denied  that  such 
were  his  opinions  ;  but  later,  he  concealed  some  of  his  opinions, 
and  gathered  unto  him  his  partners  in  error,  and  then  wished 
to  establish  the  purity  of  his  doctrine.  The  blessed  presbyters 
again  summoned  and  reproved  him.  But  he  opposed  them, 
saying,  '  What  evil  do  I  do  in  glorifying  Christ  ?  '  And  the  pres 
byters  answered  him,  '  And  we,  too,  know  that  there  is  truly 
one  God  ;  we  know  Christ  ;  we  know  that  the  Son  suffered,  as 
He  suffered  :  died,  as  He  died  ;  and  was  raised  again  on  the  third 
day,  and  is  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father,  and  will  come  to 
judge  the  living  and  the  dead.  And  those  things  do  we  say 
which  we  have  learned.'  8  Then,  having  convicted  him,  they 
cast  him  out  of  the  Church.  And  he  reached  to  such  a  height 
of  pride  as  to  set  up  a  school  for  his  doctrine."  —  Contr.  Noetum 
Galland.  t.  \\.p.  454.  (Fabr.  torn.  ii.  n.  \,p.  6.) 

"  These  testimonies  are  sufficient  for  believers  who  study 
truth;  as  to  unbelievers,  they  believe  no  one.  .  .  .  Let  us, 
therefore,  blessed  brethren,  believe  according  to  the  tradition  of 


.)  OVTE  napadido/uevov  VTCO  rear  ditotiTohoov,  ovre  ej 
Ttov  TGOV  y  paqx&v  . 
9  Tavra  \.eyo^e.v  a  tjudQonsv.  The  following,  which  is  from  the  trea 
tise  against  Noetus,  has  strangely  enough  been  adduced  as  opposed  to  tradi 
tion:  "  There  is  one  God  whom  we  do  not  know  from  other  source  (aAAofler) 
than  the  holy  writings.  For,  just  as  if  a  man  should  wish  to  exercise  the 
wisdom  of  this  world,  he  would  not  be  able  to  attain  to  it  otherwise  than  by 
attending  to  the  dogmata  of  philosophers,  so,  as  many  of  us  as  wish  to  ex 
ercise  piety  towards  God,  we  shall  not  exercise  it  from  other  source  than 
from  the  oracles  of  God.  Whatsoever  things,  therefore,  the  divine  writings 
declare,  let  us  know;  and  whatsoever  things  they  teach,  let  us  recognize; 
and  as  the  Father  wishes  to  be  believed,  let  us  believe  ;  and  as  He  wishes 
the  Son  to  be  glorified,  let  us  glorify  Him  ;  and  as  He  wishes  the  Holy  Spirit 
to  be  given,  let  us  receive  (Him);  not  according  to  our  own  will,  nor  ac 
cording  to  our  own  mind,  nor  wresting  the  things  delivered  from  God,  but 
in  that  way  which  Himself  wished  through  the  holy  writings  to  show,  so  let 
us  know."  nrj  HOLT'  idiar  Ttpoaipetiir  (private  interpretation),  jui?di  nar7 
i'diov  vovv  (private  judgment)."  —  Contr.  Noet.  Galland.  t.  ii.  p.  459,  n.  9. 
Fabr.  t.  ii.  n.  9,  pp.  12,  13. 


402  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

the  Apostles,1  that  God  the  Word  descended  from  heaven  into 
the  Virgin  Mary,  in  order  that,  having  taken  flesh  from  her, 
having  taken  a  human  soul,  —  I  mean  a  rational  soul,  —  having 
become  whatever  man  is,  save  sin,  lie  might  save  the  fallen,  and 
confer  immortality  upon  those  who  believe  in  His  name."  — 
Contr.  Hares.  Noet.  n.  17.  (Gotland,  t.  ii.  p.  463.) 

ST.  CYPRIAN,  L.  0.  —  "  Although  I  am  sensible  that  most  of 
the  bishops,  who  have  been,  by  the  divine  favor,  set  over  the 
Lord's  churches  throughout  the  world,  hold  to  the  method  of 
evangelical  truth  and  of  the  Lord's  tradition,  and  depart  not, 
by  any  human  and  novel  institution,  from  that  which  Christ 
our  Master  both  taught  and  did  ;  yet,  as  some,  through  ignor 
ance  or  simplicity,  in  consecrating  the  chalice  of  the  Lord,  and 
in  ministering  it  to  the  people,  do  not  that  which  Jesus  Christ, 
our  Lord  and  God,  the  author  and  teacher  of  this  sacrifice,  did 
and  taught,  I  have  thought  it  an  act  of  duty,  as  well  as  of  neces 
sity,  to  write  this  letter  to  you,  in  order  that  if  any  one  be  yet 
held  in  this  error,  he  may,  when  he  has  seen  the  light  of  truth, 
return  to  the  root  and  origin  of  the  Lord's  tradition.'  .  .  . 
Know,  then,  that  we  have  been  admonished  that,  in  offering 
the  chalice,  the  Lord's  tradition  be  observed,  and  that  nothing 

o 

be  done  by  us  but  what  the  Lord  iirst  did  for  us,  that  the 
chalice,  that  is,  which  is  offered  in  commemoration  of  Him,  be 
offered  mixed  with  wine."  ;  —Ep.  Ixiii.  ad  Ccecilium,p.  225. 


Hard  rrjv  Ttapddo6iv  r&v  dTtotiroXoov.  It  must  be 
remarked  that  the  writer  does  not  specify  any  doctrine  in  this  place,  which 
may  not,  possibly,  be  gathered  from  the  Scriptures;  but,  when  we  take  into 
account  that  he  uses  this  very  phrase,  "  Apostolic  Tradition,"  as  the  title  of 
an  entire  treatise,  which,  as  far  as  it  has  been  preserved,  consists  almost 
entirely  of  unwritten  doctrine  and  discipline,  the  passage  in  the  text  may 
reasonably  be  given  as  showing  that  he  appealed  to  tradition  in  confirma 
tion  of  what  Scripture  teaches,  or  is  thought  to  teach. 

2  Ad   radicem  atque  originem  traditionis  DominicaB  revertatur.      The 
whole  of  this  letter,  an  extract  from  which  has  been  already  given  under 
"  Indef  edibility  "  and  from  which  numerous  extracts  will  be  found  under 
the  head  "Sacrifice,"  is  written  especially  to  enforce  the  necessity  of  ming 
ling  water  with  the  wine  in  the  Eucharistic  sacrifice. 

3  Wherefore  is  it  sedulously,  by  a  divine  tradition  and  apostolical  obser 
vance  (de  divina  traditione  et  apostolica  observatione),  to  be  observed  and 
held,  as  is  also  held  amongst  us,  and  throughout  almost  all  the  provinces, 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  403^ 

FIKMILIAN,  G.  C. — "As  to  what  Stephen  has  asserted,  as 
though  the  Apostles  had  forbidden  those  who  came  over  from 
heresy  to  be  baptized,  and  had  handed  this  down  to  be  observed 
by  posterity,1  you  (Cyprian)  have  answered  most  fully,  that  no 
one  is  so  foolish  as  to  believe  that  the  Apostles  have  handed  this 
down,  seeing  even  that  it  is  certain  that  these  execrable  and  de 
testable  heresies  took  their  rise  after  their  time.  .  .  .  Further, 
that  they,  who  are  at  Rome,  do  not,  in  all  things,  observe  what 
has  been  handed  down  from  the  beginning,  and  in  vain  put  for 
ward  the  authority  of  the  Apostles,  any  one  may  know  even 
from  this,  that  as  regards  the  celebration  of  the  Easter-day,  and 
many  other  sacraments  of  divine  concernment,  there  are  amongst 
them  sundry  diversities,  and  that  their  observance  does  not  ex 
actly  correspond  with  that  at  Jerusalem  ;  in  which  respect  there 
are  also,  in  many  other  provinces,  many  differences,  according 
to  the  diversity  of  place  and  names  ;  and  yet  not  on  that  account 
has  there  ever  been  a  departure  from  the  peace  and  unity  of  the 
Catholic  Church.  This  breach  Stephen  has  now  dared  to  make, 
breaking  with  you  that  peace  which  his  predecessors  ever  main 
tained  with  you  in  mutual  love  and  honor ;  and  besides  this, 
defaming  the  blessed  Apostles  Peter  and  Paul,  as  if  they  had 
handed  this  down ;  they  who,  in  their  epistles,  have  execrated 
heretics,  and  warned  us  to  avoid  them.  Whence  it  is  apparent 
that  this  is  a  human  tradition2  which  upholds  heretics,  and  in- 

that,  for  the  right  celebration  of  orders,  the  nearest  bishops  of  the  same 
province  should  meet  together  amongst  that  people  for  whom  a  prelate  is 
ordained,  and  that  the  bishop  be  chosen  in  the  presence  of  the  people  who 
are  most  fully  acquainted  with  the  life  of  each  person." — Ep.  Ixviii.  p.  256. 

1  Et  hoc  custodiendum  posteris  tradiderint. 

2  Apparet  hanc  traditionem  humanam  esse.     It  may  be  useful  to  collect 
a  few  passages  from  various  writers  relative  to  Pope  Stephen's  dictum  on 
tradition.     St.  Cyprian,  in  his  Ep.  Ixxiv.  Pompeio,  says:  "For,  amongst 
other  things,  arrogant  or  extraneous,  or  self-contradictory,  which  he  wrote 
without  due  knowledge  and  caution,  he  moreover  added  this,  saying:   'If 
then  any  one  shall  come  to  you  from  any  heresy  whatsoever,  let  there  be  no 
innovation  beyond  what  has  been  handed  down  (nihil  innovetur  nisi  quod 
traditum  est)  (namely)  that  the  hand  be  imposed  on  him  unto  penitence.'  " 
It  is  again  cited  in  the  same  epistle,  and  though  the  principle  itself  is  not 
denied,  the  application  of  it  to  the  case  in  dispute  is  repudiated  and  con 
demned  by  St.  Cyprian,  who  thereby  fell  into  a  grievous  error.     Eusebius: 


404  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

sists  that  they  have  baptism,  which  appertains  to  the  Church 
alone." — Inter  op.  S.  Cypriani,  Ep.  Ixxv.  p.  303. 

CENTURY    IV. 

EUSEBITTS,  G.  C. — [Having  given  a  list  of  the  Deuteroca- 
nonical  books  of  the  New  Testament,  he  says :]  "  All  the 
above  writings  are  controverted.  And  yet  I  have  of  necessity 
given  a  catalogue  of  them,  distinguishing,  according  to  the  tra 
dition  of  the  Church,1  those  writings  which  are  true,  genuine, 
and  acknowledged,  from  the  other  writings  in  addition  to  these, 
which  are  not  put  into  the  body  of  the  New  Testament,  and 
are  even  controverted,  but  which  still  are  acknowledged  by  the 
greater  number  of  ecclesiastical  writers ;  that  thus  we  may  be 
able  to  know,  both  what  writings  are  of  this  character,  and  also 
those  which  are  circulated  by  heretics  under  the  name  of 
Apostles,  as  containing  the  gospels  of  Peter,  and  of  Thomas,  and 
of  Matthias,  and  even  of  others  besides  these,  and  the  acts  of 
John  and  of  the  other  Apostles." — Hist.  Eccles.  I.  iii.  c.  25, 
p.  119. 

He  says  of  St.  Ignatius,  and  of  his  epistles  :  u  He  warns  them 
to  be  especially  on  their  guard  against  the  heresies  just  then  first 
springing  up,  and  increasing.  He  exhorts  them  to  hold  firmly 
the  tradition  of  the  Apostles,2  which,  for  security,  he  thought  it 
necessary,  as  a  witness,  to  confirm  in  writing.' ' — II.  E.  I.  iii.  c.  36. 

"  Moses,  on  inanimate  tables,  but  Christ,  on  living  souls, 
wrote  the  perfect  precepts  of  the  New  Testament ;  and  His  dis 
ciples  also,  according  to  the  wish  of  their  Master,  making  their 
teaching  suitable  to  the  ears  of  the  many,  what  things  soever 

"First  of  all  Cyprian,  who  was  the  shepherd  of  the  church  of  Carthage, 
thought  that  they  (heretics)  were  not  to  be  restored  to  the  Church,  until  they 
had  first  been  cleansed  by  baptism.  But  Stephen,  who  thought  that  no 
thing  new  ought  to  be  innovated  beyond  (or,  as  regards)  the  tradition  which 
had  prevailed  from  the  beginning  (IATJ  dsTv  rl  vE&repoi'  itapd  rrjv  npartf- 
6a6av  dpxyOev  Ttapddotiir  eTtixciiroro/itsfv),  was  grievously  moved  at 
this." — II.  E.  1.  vii.  c.  3.  Vincentius  of  Lerins:  "  In  times  past,  Agrippinus 
of  blessed  memory,"  &c.,  as  given  in  this  section. 

1  Kara  rrjv  EKH\rj6ia6TiKrjv  7tapd8o6iv. 

8  TrjS  roov  aito6r6\K)v  TtapaddGeaoS  aTtpl* 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  405 

were  taught  by  their  perfect  Master,  for  such  as  had  overcome 
mere  habit,  those  they  delivered  to  such  as  were  competent  to 
receive  them  ;  but  whatsoever  things  they  had  received  to 
adapt  to  those  who  were  still  under  the  passions,  and  who  stood 
in  need  of  remedies,  such,  letting  themselves  down  to  the  weak 
ness  of  the  majority,  they  transmitted,  some  to  be  observed  on 
account  of  written,  and  others  on  account  of  unwritten  laws  :  l 
so  that  even  now  in  the  Church  of  Christ  there  are  two  modes 
of  living  having  force  of  law,  the  one,  above  nature  and  supe 
rior  to  the  common  and  human  scheme  of  life,  not  admitting  of 
marriage,  or  the  generation  of  children,  nor  of  possessions, 
nor  of  superfluity,  and  devoted  entirely  to  the  service  of  God 
according  to  their  overflowing  heavenly  love."  —  Dem.  Evang. 
c.  viii.^>.  29. 

Writing  against  Marcellus  of  Ancyra,  he  says,  "  There  is, 
therefore,  one  God,  and  one  Mediator  between  God  and  man, 
and  all  creatures  ;  who  has  not  now  begun  His  saving  media 
tion,  but  who  was  also  (Mediator)  before  His  divine  appearance 
amongst  men.  .  .  .  And  besides  the  divine  writings,  the  Cath 
olic  Church  of  God,  from  one  end  of  the  earth  to  the  other, 
sets  her  seal,  out  of  unwritten  tradition,  to  the  testimony  of 
the  divine  Scriptures."3  —  Ibid.  Contra  Marcell.  I.  i.  c.  \.  p.  9.3 


1  Td  fjikv  did  ypamjdrwv,  rd  de  dV  aypdcpoov  %£($n<£>v 
itapsdiSotiar. 

2  Kal  TCpoS  ToT<3  QsioiS  iyypdcpoiS,  rrj$  dito  Ttepdroov  yrfi  £00$  Ttepd- 
TGOV  KaftokiHrjc,   EHHX.rj(5ia'-,    rov    Osov,  rdt  arto   T&V   QEIGOV  ypapdor 
fiapTvpiaS,  ££  dypd<pov  rtapa.866  £&$,  eititicppayi^onevrjS. 

3  The  Arian  party,  to  which  Eusebius  was  attached,  if  he  did  not  actu 
ally  belong  to  it,  was  particularly  embittered  against  Marcellus,  bishop  of 
Ancyra,  who  had  shown  himself  their  sagacious  and  determined  opponent. 
It  is  therefore  conjectured,  that  to  accuse  him  of  heresy  was  one  of  the  de 
vices  of  the  Arians  to  ruin  his  credit.     The  following,  which  bears  upon  the 
subject  of  this  section,  seems  dictated  by  the  same  spirit  :    "1  will,  first  of 
all,  set  down  wherein  he  tries  to  gainsay  those  who  have  written  rightly  and 
ecclesiastically  ;  inveighing  against  the  writers,  and  only  just  not  engaging 
in  a  general  battle  with  all  of  them  :  now  he  contradicts  Asterius,  now  the 
great  Eusebius,  then  he  turns  upon  that  man  of  God,  the  thrice-blessed 
Paulinus  .  .  .  and  passing  from  him  proclaims  war  against  Origen  ...  he 
rejects  all  the  Fathers  of  the  Church  together,  satisfied  with  no  one  what 
ever,  except  with  himself."  —  2b.  1.  i.  c.  4,  pp.  19-20.     "  Why  cast  thyself  over 


406  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

Speaking  of  the  observance  of  the  Sunday  instead  of  the 
Sabbath,  he  says :  "  We  have  received  from  tradition  that  we 
are  to  assemble  on  that  day." — Comm.  in  Ps.  xci.  t.  i.  p.  60S  ; 
Nova  Collect.  Montf. 

ST.  JULIUS  L,  POPE,  L.  C.1 — "  Not  thus  were  Paul's  ordi 
nances  :  not  thus  have  the  fathers  handed  down  to  us  :  this  is 
an  alien  form,  and  a  new  institution.  Bear  with  me  cheer 
fully,  I  beseech  you,  for  what  I  write  is  for  the  common 
weal.  For  what  we  have  received  from  the  blessed  Apostle 
Peter,  the  same  do  I  make  known  to  you." — Ep.  ad  Emebian, 
n.  21,  p.  13,  t.  v.  Gotland. 

LIBEKIUS,  POPE,  L.  C.2— "  This  is  not  the  ecclesiastical  rule, 
nor  have  we  ever  received  any  such  tradition  from  the  fathers, 
who  themselves  also  received  (tradition)  from  the  blessed  and 
great  Apostle  Peter." !  —Ep.  ad  Euseb.  Spado,  ap.  Athan. 
Hist.  Arian.  n.  36;  and  in  Galland.  t.  v. 

ST.  HILARY,  L.  C. — See  the  quotation  given  from  the  Fragm. 
IL'xt.  vii.  under  the  head  "  Apostolicity" 

ST.  ATHANASIUS,  G.  C. — "  The  messengers  that  have  been 
sent  to  you,  and  to  others,  will  inform  you  of  the  contumely 
and  injustice  which  they  have  endured  (from  the  Arians). 
Be  ye  also,  therefore,  moved,  I  beseech  you,  not  as  if  we  alone, 
but  as  if  you  also  had  been  unjustly  treated,  and  let  each  lend 
his  aid,  as  though  he  personally  suffered  ;  lest  the  canons  of  the 
Church,  and  the  faith  of  the  Church,  be  shortly  damaged 
For  both  are  endangered,  unless  God  speedily  through  you 
rectify  these  disorders,  and  the  Church  find  defenders.  For 

a  precipice,  deciding  in  thy  writings  on  things  which  thou  art  ignorant  of  ? 
Why  doest  thou  not  keep  to  what  thou  hast  received  from  the  Fathers  and 
teachers  of  the  Church  ?  Thou  introducest  novelties,"  &c. — Ib.  1.  ii.  p.  53. 

1  He  succeeded  St.  Mark  in  the  year  337,  and  was  the  strenuous  defender 
of  St.  Athanasius,  whom  he  restored  to  his  see.     He  died  in  352.     The  edi 
tion  used  is  Gallandius,  t.  v.  after  Constant. 

2  The  successor  of  St.  Julius  in  352.    He  suffered  severely  from  the  Arian 
party,  and  was  for  a  time  alienated  from  St.  Athanasius.     He  died  in  366. 
Gallandius,  t.  v.  is  the  edition  used. 

3  Ovrs  Toicivrrjv  TCoonoTE  TtapdSo6iv  e<5x°H£v  Ttccpd  r(Sr  narepaov, 
Hal  OCVTGOV  rtapaXafiovTwv  Ttapd  rov  .   .  .  nsrpov. 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  407 

it  is  not  now  that  the  canons  and  statutes  have  been  given  to 
the  churches,  but  from  our  fathers  have  they  been  well  and 
steadfastly  transmitted.  Neither  is  it  now  that  the  faith  began, 
but  from  the  Lord,  through  the  disciples,  has  it  come  down  to 
us.1  In  order,  therefore,  that  those  things,  which  from  the 
ancients  have  been  preserved  in  the  churches  even  unto  us, 
may  not  in  these  our  days  utterly  perish,  and  that  the  things 
entrusted  to  us  may  not  be  required  at  our  hands,  be  ye  zeal 
ous,  brethren,  as  being  the  dispensers  of  the  mysteries  of  God, 
and  as  witnessing  these  things  rudely  seized  by  others."  —  Ep. 
Encyc.  ad  Ep.  n.  i.  t.  i.  p.  88. 

"  For  this  has  been  their  device  and  cunning  (of  the  Arians), 
and  they  had  ever  this  deadly  purpose,  to  seek  to  drive  from 
their  chairs,  and  to  hunt  down  those  who  in  any  place  are  of 
the  orthodox  faith,  and  who  hold  to  that  teaching  of  the  Catho 
lic  Church  which  has  been  handed  down  to  them  from  their 
fathers."  —  Apol.  con.  Arian  (Ex  Ep.  Syn.  Sard.)  n.  37,  t.  i. 
pp.  122-3. 

"  And  what  is  strange  indeed,  Eusebius  of  Csesarea  in  Pales 
tine  —  who  had  but  the  day  before  refused,  but  afterwards  sub 
scribed  (the  creed  of  Nicsea)  —  sent  a  letter  to  his  church,  de 
claring  this  to  be  the  faith  of  the  Church,  and  the  tradition  of 
the  fathers."1  —  Ep.  de  Dec.  Niccen.  Synod,  n.  3,  t.  i.  p.  166. 


1  EH  TGOV  n  are  poor  -f^i^v  uaX^  nat  fiefiaioas  TtapESoQrjtiav.     ovde 
vvv  YI  TtiGmS  rfp^aroy  dXK  kn  ro£  nvpiov  did  rear  juaQr/roov  e 


2  Amongst  the  documents  preserved  by  St.  Athanasius'  treatise  on  the 
Nicene  creed,  is  the  celebrated  letter  of  Eusebius,  which,  before  giving  his 
profession  of  faith,  contains  the  following  preamble,  illustrative  of  the  sub 
ject  before  us:  "As  we  have  received  from  the  bishops  before  us ;  and  in 
our  first  catechisings ;  and  when  we  received  the  laver;  and  as  we  have 
learned  from  the  divine  writings ;  and  as  we  both  believed  and  taught  in  the 
presbyterate  and  in  the  episcopate  itself,  so  also  believing  now,  we  present 
before  you  our  faith,  and  it  is  this,"  &c.—De  Deer.  Nic.  Syn.  t.  i.  p.  187. 
In  the  synodal  epistle  of  the  council  of  Sardis,  held  in  347,  in  defence  of  St. 
Athanasius  especially,  we  read:  "  For  this  has  been  their  artifice  and  wick 
edness,  of  this  deadly  purpose  have  they  (the  Arians)  ever  been,  to  strive  to 
trouble  and  persecute  all  those  who  are  anywhere  of  the  orthodox  faith,  and 
who  hold  to  that  teaching  of  the  Catholic  Church  which  has  been  trans 
mitted  to  them  by  their  fathers."— Labb.  t.  ii.  col.  664. 


408  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

"  But  as  these  men,  maddened  by  their  impiety,  and  smit 
ten  with  blind  dizziness  as  regards  the  truth,  make  it  their 
sole  business  to  bring  accusations  against  the  synod  (of  iNicaea), 
let  them  tell  us  out  of  what  sort  of  Scriptures  they  have 
learnt,  or  from  which  of  the  holy  men  they  have  heard,  the 
terms  which  are  heaped  together  by  them  'I  "  * — Ibid.  n.  18, 
pp.  175-6. 

"  I  exhort  you,  therefore,  that  none  of  you  be  deceived ;  let 
none  of  you  be  ensnared  (by  these  Arians),  but  rather,  now  that 
an  impiety  like  the  Jewish  has  gone  forth  against  the  faith  in 
Christ,  be  ye  all  zealous  for  the  Lord,  and  let  each  one,  hold 
ing  fast  the  faith  received  from  the  fathers,  and  which  they 
who  assembled  at  Nicsea  bore  in  memory  when  they  wrote, 
refuse  to  bear  with  those  who  attempt  to  innovate  in  opposi 
tion  to  the  faith.  Even  though  they,  in  their  writings,  pro 
duce  expressions  from  the  Scriptures,  have  nothing  to  do  with 
the  writers  ;  even  though  they  utter  the  words  of  the  orthodox 
faith,  attend  not  to  them  when  even  speaking  so,  for  they  do 
not  speak  with  a  right  sentiment,  but  covering  themselves 
under  words,  as  with  a  sheep's  clothing,  within  they  are  in 
mind  Arians — in  this  like  the  devil,  the  leader  of  heresies. 
For  he  too  quoted  from  Scripture,  but  was  silenced  by  the 
Saviour.  For  had  he  thought  as  he  spoke,  he  would  not  have 
fallen  from  heaven." — Ep.  ad  Episc.  ^Egypt.  et  Lyl.  n.  8, 
t.  i.  p.  219. 

"  Who  ever  heard  such  things  as  these  ?  or  whence,  or  from 
whom,  have  the  favorers  and  hirelings  of  this  heresy  learnt 
them  ?  Who,  when  they  were  catechised,  ever  uttered  such 
things  to  them  ?  .  .  .  But  if  even  they  themselves  (the  Arians) 

1  A  little  later  in  the  same  letter,  he  appeals  in  defence  of  the  term  con- 
substantial,  against  which  the  Arians  objected,  to  several  of  the  Fathers,  as 
to  Theognostus,  Dionysius  of  Alexandria,  Dionysius  of  Rome,  Origen,  and 
subjoins  to  the  extracts  from  their  writings,  these  words:  ''See  then  how 
we  demonstrate  that  this  opinion  has  descended  from  Fathers  to  Fathers, 
whilst  you,  O  ye  new  Jews,  and  disciples  of  Caiphas,  what  Fathers  have  you 
to  show  for  your  terms  ?  (£x  Ttars'pGov  sis  narspaS  diafteftrfnevat  rrfv 
TOIO.VTTJY  didvoiav  (XTtodeiKYvo/uev.  v/u£i$  d£,  GO  reot  'lovdaiot)" — Ib. 
n.  27,  p.  183. 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  409 

confess  that  these  things  are  now  heard  for  the  first  time,  they 
will  not  deny  that  this  heresy  is  alien,  and  is  not  from  the 
fathers.  But  that  which  is  not  from  the  fathers,  but  has  just 
now  been  discovered,  what  else  can  it  be l  but  that  of  which 
the  blessed  Apostle  Paul  prophesied,  In  the  last  times  some 
shall  depart  from  the  sound  faith^  &c.  (1  Tim.  iv.  1)2" — Or. 
i.  Con.  Avian,  n.  8,  t.  i.  p.  325. 

"  Though  dwelling  in  the  desert,  I  have  written  to  you  these 
few  things,  on  account  of  the  audacity  of  those  who  have 
turned  aside  from  the  truth.  ...  I  have  delivered  to  you  the 
apostolic  faith,  as  it  has  been  transmitted  to  us  by  the  fathers, 
not  inventing  anything  adventitious,  but  what  I  have  learned, 
that  have  I  written  harmoniously  with  the  holy  Scriptures." — 
Ep.  i.  ad  Serap.  n.  33,  t.  i.  part.  2,  p.  545. 

"  Who  then  will  not  commend  the  piety  of  the  bishops  who 
assembled  in  the  synod  of  Ariminum  ?  Men  who  endured  the 
fatigues  of  such  a  journey,  and  the  dangers  of  the  sea,  in  order 
to  depose  those  who  agreed  with  Arius,  and  to  keep  untouched 
the  decrees  of  the  fathers  (of  Nicsea),  and  who  executed  this 
purpose  in  a  holy  and  canonical  manner.  For  each  of  them 
was  persuaded  that  if  they  undid  the  acts  of  their  predecessors, 
a  pretext  was  furnished  to  all  in  after  times  to  undo  in  like 
manner  what  they  wrere  then  doing.  And  who  would  not  dis 
claim  the  rashness  of  Eudoxius  and  Acacius,  who  betray  the 
honor  of  their  own  fathers  in  their  zeal  and  affection  for  the 
Arians  ?  For  what  trust  is  to  be  put  in  their  own  acts,  if  the 
acts  of  the  fathers  be  undone  ?  Or  how  call  those,  to  whom 
they  have  succeeded,  their  fathers,  of  whose  opinions  they 
have  become  the  impugners  ?  .  .  .  And  what  will  they  teach 
the  people  who  have  been  under  their  instructions  ?  That  the 

1  To  d£  fj.rj  EH  irarspwr,  dfckd  vvv  scpsvpeQer,  ri  av  Eirj  erspov, 
So  again,  in  his  second  oration  against  the  Arians  (t.  i.  n.  40,  p.  401):  "If 
then  neither  in  the  divine  writings  is  there  found  another  wisdom  besides 
the  Son,  nor  from  the  Fathers  have  we  heard  anything  of  the  kind,  but  they 
confess  and  write,  that  wisdom  is  an  uncreated  being  co-existent  with  the 
Father,  His  own,  and  the  Creator  of  the  world,  this  must  be  the  Son  Himself, 
who,  even  by  their  own  confession,  coexisted  with  Him  from  everlasting." 


410  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

fathers  have  erred  ?  And  how  will  they  have  credence  given 
them  on  the  part  of  men  whom  they  themselves  are  actually 
teaching  not  to  obey  their  masters  ?  With  what  eyes  will  they 
look  upon  the  monuments  of  the  fathers,  whom  they  now  call 
heretics  ?  Why  do  they  cry  down  the  Valentin  ians,  and 
Phrygians,  and  the  Manichees,  and  yet  give  the  name  of  saints 
to  men  who,  in  their  judgment  at  least,  held  the  same  opin 
ions  ?  Or  how  can  they  any  longer  be  themselves  bishops,  if 
they  were  ordained  (constituted),  as  they  give  out,  by  heretics  ? 
If  they  did  indeed  hold  evil  opinions,  and  have  by  their  writ 
ings  led  the  world  into  error,  let  the  very  memory  of  them 
cease  for  ever  ;  and  if  their  writings  are  cast  aside,  go  you  and 
cast  forth  their  remains  too  from  the  cemeteries,  that  all  men 
may  know  that  they  were  deceivers,  and  you  parricides.1  The 
blessed  Apostle  Paul  indeed  praises  the  Corinthians,  in  these 
words,  1  praise  you  that  in  all  things  you  are  mindful  of 
me,  and  as  I  delivered  unto  you  tJie  traditions,  so  do  you  hold 
them  (1  Cor.  xi.  2).  But  these  men,  with  these  their  opinions 
of  those  who  have  gone  before  them,  wrill  dare  to  address  the 
very  contrary  to  the  people :  '  We  do  not  praise  you  for  being 
mindful  of  the  fathers,  but  we  praise  you  rather  when  you 
hold  not  their  traditions.'  And,  in  fine,  let  them  cast  a  slur 
on  their  own  ignoble  origin,  and  say,  <  We  have  sprung,  not 
from  religious  men,  but  from  heretics.'  For  to  say  such  things 
is  in  character  for  men  who,  as  I  have  said,  betray  the  honor 
of  their  fathers,  and  their  own  salvation,  to  the  heresy  of  the 
Arians,  and  who  fear  not  to  hear  what  is  written  in  the  divine 
proverb,  An  evil  generation  curseth  their  fathers  (Prov. 
xxxii.),  and  the  threat  lying  in  the  law  against  such.  These 

1  St.  Hilary  (De  Synodis,  n.  19,  p.  518,  t.  ii.  Ed.  JBened.  Veron.)  has  a 
similar  passage:  "  Let  us  bear  in  mind  so  many  holy  priests  who  are  now  at 
rest :  what  will  be  the  Lord's  judgment  on  us,  if  they  be  now  anathematized 
by  us?  What  will  become  of  us  who  bring  matters  to  such  a  pass,  that  for 
asmuch  as  they  were  not  bishops,  we  too  have  begun  not  to  be  such  (or,  we 
never  were  such)  (ut  quia  episcopi  non  fuerunt,  nos  quoque  nee  coeperimus)? 
For  by  them  were  we  ordained,  and  we  are  their  successors.  Let  us  re 
nounce  the  episcopate,  seeing  that  we  have  received  the  office  from  men  who 
were  an  anathema." 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  411 

men,  then,  on  account  of  their  zeal  for  heresy,  have  a  temper 
thus  contentious.     But  be  ye  not  thereby  troubled;  neither 
account   ye   their   audacity,  truth.     For  they  are  also  even 
mutually  opposed  to  each  other,  and,  having  abandoned  the 
fathers,  they  have  not  one  mind,  but  fluctuate  in  divers  and 
varied  changes,1  and  contending  against  the  synod  of  Nicsea, 
they  too  have  held  many  synods,  and,  having  laid  down  a  faith 
in  each,  have  abided  by  none  ;  nor  will  they  ever  cease  from  act 
ing  thus,  because,  seeking  amiss,  they  will  not  find  the  wisdom 
which  they  have  hated.     I  have  accordingly,  not  without  need, 
subjoined  portions  both  of    Arms' s    writings,   and  of  what 
ever  else  I  could  collect  of  their  expositions  in  various  synods, 
that  you  may  know,   and  marvel,  for  what  they  oppose  an 
cecumenical  council,  and  their  own  fathers,  without  blushing." 
— De  Synodis,  n.  13, 14,  t.  i.  pp.  580-1.     See  Hid.  n.  22,  p.  587. 
"  This  is  sufficient  to  show  that  the  phrase  '  consubstantial ' 
is  not  alien,  nor  far  from  the  meaning  of  these  blessed  men. 
But  since,  as  they  say  (for  I  have  not  the  epistle  in  question), 
that  the  bishops  who  condemned  Paul  of  Samosata  have  laid 
down  in  writing  that  the  Son  is  not  consubstantial  with  the 
Father ;  and  that  it  is  on  account  of  their  reverence  and  honor 
towards  the  aforesaid  that  they  are  thus  disposed  towards  that 
phrase,  it  will  be  well  to  argue  reverently  with  them  this  point 
also.     It  is  unbecoming  to  set  them  in  opposition  the  one  to 
the  other.     For  they  are  all  fathers  ;  nor  is  it  religious  to  set 
tle  that  these  have  spoken  well,  and  those  ill ;  for  all  of  them 
have  gone  to  sleep  in  Christ.      Nor  is  it  befitting  to  be  dis 
putatious  ;  or  to  compare  the  number  of  those  who  were  met 
together,  or  the  three  hundred  may  seem  to  throw  the  lesser 
number  into  the  shade :  nor  again,  to  compare  the  dates,  lest 
those  who  preceded  may  seem  to  eclipse  those  who  come  after. 
For  they  are  all,  as  I  have  already  said,  fathers ;  and  any  how 
the  three  hundred  did  not  set  down  in  writing  anything  newly 

1  Kal  yap  Hai  rtoo?  eavrovS  dvQitirarrat,  nod  rcor  Ttarepoov  dito- 
tirdvrsS,  niav  ovu  e'xovfa  rrjv  yvGOtirjv,  d\\d  TtoiniTtaiS  nal  dta<pd- 


412  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

invented,  nor  was  it  in  any  self-confidence  that  they  became 
champions  of  words  not  in  the  Scripture,  but  were  themselves 
impelled  to  it  by  the  fathers,  and  used  their  words."  '  —Ibid.  n. 
43,  p.  605. 

"  It  is  enough  to  give  this  only  for  answer  to  such  things 
(from  the  Arians),  and  to  say  these  things  are  not  of  the  Catho 
lic  Church  ;  neither  did  the  fathers  think  thus."  a  —  Ep.  ad 
Epictet.  n.  3,  t.  I,  par.  ii.  p.  722. 

"  This  is  that  madness  and  audacity  of  these  men  (Arians), 
as  I  have  already  stated.  But  our  faith  is  right  and  is  derived 
from  the  apostolic  doctrine  and  the  tradition  of  the  fathers, 
confirmed  from  both  the  Old  and  New  Testament."  —  Ep.  ad 
Adelph.n.  6,  ib.  p.  730. 


1  'En  itaTtpwy  opLi&ntvoi  ual  avrol  rot?  exeiyaov 
<prjtJ.a6i.  Having  quoted,  in  the  same  treatise,  from  St.  Ignatius  and 
other  fathers,  he  says  (in  connection  with  the  word  onovdtot),  "  It  is  right 
and  meet  thus  to  feel  and  to  maintain  this  good  understanding  with  the 
fathers  (roiavrrfy  6(*%eiv  dyc&rfv  6vveidrj6iv  TtpoS  rovS  TtarepaS),  if  we 
be  not  spurious  children,  but  hold  the  traditions  from  them,  and  have  the 
doctrine  of  the  true  religion  from  them  (t£  avrcSy  s'xojuev  r«S  napa- 
SotftiS,  nai  nap"  avraov  TJ}V  r//;  evtiefieiaS  di8a6Kakiay)"  —  lb.  n.  47, 
p.  608.  St.  Hilary,  in  his  Libr.  Contr.  Const.  Imp.  n.  16,  p.  575,  t.  ii., 
uses  similar  language:  "  He  (Constantius)  uses  also  even  in  this,  as  in  his 
preceding  dealings,  his  habitual  art,  so  as,  under  an  appearance  of  what  is 
right,  to  confirm  what  is  wrong,  and  under  the  name  of  reason  he  estab 
lishes  (what  is)  madness.  '  I  will  that  words  not  in  Scripture  be  not  used.' 
Who.  I  ask,  gives  bishops  this  order?  And  who  forbids  a  form  of  apostolic 
preaching?  Say,  first,  if  thou  thinkest  what  I  now  say  right:  'I  will  that 
there  be  no  new  medicines  prepared  against  new  poisons:  I  will  that  there 
be  no  new  wars  against  new  enemies:  I  will  that  there  be  no  new  counsels 
against  new  wiles.'  .  .  .  The  Apostle  orders  novelties  of  words,  but  then  he 
adds  profane,  to  be  avoided:  why  doest  thou  exclude  such  words  as  are 
pious?"  So  St.  Athanasius,  passim.  As,  for  example:  "But  they  (the 
Arians)  say,  these  things  are  not  in  the  Scriptures,  and  we  reject  these 
words  (consubstantial,  &c.)  as  not  written.  Now  this  plea  of  theirs  is  again 
most  disgraceful.  For  if  they  are  of  opinion  that  words  not  written  in  the 
Scriptures  are  to  be  rejected,  why  do  they  not.  for  this  same  reason,  oppose 
the  heap  of  words,  not  found  in  the  Scriptures,  which  Arius  has  invented?" 
—  De  Synod,  n.  36,  p.  600;  see  also  n.  39,^.  602;  n.  41,  p.  603.  "The 
bishops  did  not  invent  these  words  for  themselves,  but,  having  the  testi 
mony  of  the  fathers,  they  so  wrote."  —  Ep.  ad  Afr.  Episc.  n.  6,  t.  i.  par.  ii. 
p.  715. 

TOLVTOC  TrS  HaQohinr1-,  £HMXrj6iaS,  ov8k  ravra.  oi 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  413 

Imitating  the  introduction  to  St.  Luke's  Gospel,  he  says: 
"  For  as  much  as  certain  persons  have  taken  in  hand  to  set  forth 
in  order  the  books,  called  Apocrypha,  and  to  mix  them  with 
the  divinely  inspired  writings,  concerning  which  we  have  full 
assurance,  according  as  they,  who  from  the  beginning  were 
eye-witnesses  and  ministers  of  the  word,  have  delivered  to  the 
fathers,1  it  has  seemed  good  to  me  also,  at  the  exhortation  of 
certain  brethren,  and  having  attained  to  this  knowledge  from 
the  beginning,  to  set  forth  in  order  the  books  than  are  canon 
ized,  and  are  handed  down,  and  believed  to  be  divine."  2  [Then 
follows  the  well-known  canon.]  —  Ep.  Fest.  1.  1,  par.  ii.  p.  767. 

ST.  CYRIL  OF  JERUSALEM,  G.  C.  —  See  the  first  quotation 
given  under  "Authority" 

ST.  EPHR^M  SYRUS,  G.  C.  —  "  Be  firmly  persuaded  of  this, 
not  as  an  opinion,  but  as  a  truth,  that  whatsoever  has  been 
transmitted,  whether  in  writing  only  or  by  word  of  mouth,  — 
and  by  consequence  the  divine  names  and  appellations,  —  is 
directed  to  this  end,  that  we  may  have  life,  and  may  have  it 
more  abundantly."  —  T.  iii.  Syr.  Serm.  lix.  adv.  Scrutat.p.  113. 

ST.  GREGORY  OF  NYSSA,  G.  C.  —  "  Had  it  indeed  been  more 
suitable  to  use  the  terms  invented  by  Eunomius,  the  truth  was 
not  utterly  unable  to  find  terms  ;  neither  were  they  (unable) 
who,  after  the  truth,  received  the  heralding  of  the  mystery, 
having  been  eye-witnesses  and  ministers  of  the  word  from  the 
beginning  ;  nor  they  who  after  them  filled  the  whole  world 
with  the  truths  of  the  Gospel  ;  nor  again  they  who  later,  on 
occasions,  treated  in  public  synod  the  various  doubts  raised 
respecting  dogma,  whose  written  traditions  are  ever  carefully 
preserved  in  the  churches."  3  —  T.  ii.  1.  1.  Cont.  Eunom.  p.  318. 

"  Where  has  our  Saviour  said  in  the  Gospels,  that  we  are  to 
believe  on  one  only  true  God  ?  They  cannot  show  us  this,  un 
less  they  have  a  new  Gospel  amongst  them.  For  such  as  are, 


oS  Ttapsdotfav  roi$  Ttarpdtiiv. 
8  Td  uavovi^o/iiEva  nal  TtapadoQerra,  TtitfrevQevra  re  QeTa  ei 


at  TtapaSotieiS  eyypafpoi 


414  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

from  the  ancients  by  succession  even  unto  this  present  time,' 
read  in  the  churches,  furnish  not  any  such  declaration  as  this 
which  says  that  we  are  to  believe,  and  to  baptize,  into  the  one 
and  only  true  God,  as  these  men  pretend,  but  into  the  name  of 
the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."—  T.  ii.  I. 
ii.  Adv.  Eunom.  p.  435. 

"  Let  Eunomius  tell  us  whence  he  derives  this  assurance  ? 
From  what  inspired  declaration  ?  Which  of  the  evangelists, 
which  of  the  Apostles  has  uttered  any  such  declaration  ?  What 
prophet,  or  lawgiver,  or  patriarch,  or  which  amongst  the  others 
whom  the  Holy  Ghost  has  inspired,  whose  declarations  are 
unwritten,1  introduced  any  such  term.  Whether  have  we 
learned  in  the  tradition  of  the  faith  from  the  truth  *  that  we 
ought  to  believe  Father,  and  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  or  that  He 
is  a  creature  ?  How  happened  it  that  the  Truth,  whilst  trans 
mitting  to  us  *  the  mystery,  gave  as  a  law  faith  on  the  Son,  and 
not  on  the  creature?"  —  Ibid.  p.  461. 

"  Let  him  then  (Eunomius)  first  demonstrate  that  the 
Church  has  vainly  believed  Him  to  be  truly  the  only-begotten 
Son.  .  .  .  And  let  no  one  put  in  this  place  that  what  is  pub 
licly  confessed  by  us  is  also  established  by  proof  ;  for  it  suffices 
for  a  demonstration  of  our  words  that  we  have  a  tradition  that 
comes  down  to  us  from  the  fathers,  like  unto  an  inheritance 
transmitted  by  succession  from  the  Apostles  through  the  holy 
men  that  have  come  after  them."  "—Ibid.  1.  iv.  Contr.  Eunom. 
p.  554. 

ST.  GREGORY  OF  NAZIANZUM,  G.  C.—  "  May  we,  to  the  last 
breath  of  life,  confess  with  great  confidence  that  excellent 


1  'Ec,  dpxocioov  ttfxP1  T°v  vvv  Hard 
*°H  aAAoS   rzS    TGOV  viio   rov  dyiov  TtvEvparoS 
drdypartroi  zltiiv  at  <pwval. 

3  *Ev  r#  irapadodei  rift  rtitirEGoS. 

4  UapaSidovdci. 

si<3  aitodsiqiv  rov  rj/LiETepuv  Xoyov  ro 
;//«5  n}v  Ttapd8o6iv,  oiov  riva  H\ijpo 
in  r&iv  dito6rokcov  Sid  r£>v  ffpel-ffS  dyioov  rtapaTtenqfisvra.  The  ques 
tion  treated  of  in  this  book  against  Eunomius,  and  in  the  immediate  con 
text,  is  that  Christ  is  the  only-begotten  Son  of  God,  genitum  nonfactum. 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  415 

deposit l  of  the  holy  fathers  who  were  nearest  to  Christ,  and  the 
primitive  faith ;  that  confession  which  we  imbibed  from  our 
infancy ;  which  we  first  uttered ;  and  with  which  may  we  de 
part  this  life."—!7,  i.  Orat.  6,  p.  141. 

"  My  sheep  hear  my  voice,  that  voice  which  I  received  from 
the  sacred  oracles,  which  I  learned  from  the  holy  fathers,  and 
in  which  I  have  taught  at  all  times  without  varying,  not 
assuming  various  shapes  according  to  the  times ;  and  I  will 
never  cease  thus  to  teach ;  with  that  voice  was  I  born,  and 
with  it  will  I  quit  this  world."— T.  i.  Or.  Z$,pp.  440-41. 

"  Hold  fast  the  words  imbibed  from  thy  infancy  ; 2  leave  dis 
cussion  to  wiser  men.  Let  it  suffice  thee  to  hold  to  the 
foundation ;  let  the  architect  build  thereon.  It  is  enough  to 
strengthen  thy  heart  with  bread;  leave  garnishings  to  the 
rich."— /foW.  Or.  26,  p.  456. 

ST.  BASIL,  G.  C. — "  Eunomius. — But,  above  all  things,  I 
request  of  you  who  hear  me,  and  of  those  who  may  meet  with 
these  remarks  later,  to  put  aside  all  disposition  to  discriminate 
truth  from  falsehood  by  mere  numbers,  giving  the  preference 
to  the  more  numerous  body ;  and  not  to  have  the  understand 
ing  darkened  by  giving  heed  to  high  offices ;  nor,  by  assigning 
greater  weight  to  the  generations  that  have  preceded  us,  to 
close  the  ears  against  those  of  later  date."  Basil. — "  What  is 
this  that  tliou  sayest  ?  Are  we  not  to  assign  greater  weight 
to  those  who  have  preceded  us  ?  Are  we  not  to  show  respect 
both  to  the  multitude  of  those  who  are  now  Christians,  and  of 
those  who  have  been  such  from  the  first  promulgation  of  the 
Gospel  ?  Are  we  to  make  no  account  of  the  dignity  (or  au 
thority)  of  those  who  have  shone  conspicuous  for  every  kind 
of  spiritual  gift,  to  all  of  whom  this  impiety  of  thine,  which 
thou  hast  just  invented,  is  hateful  and  adverse  ?  But,  is  each 
of  us,  closing  completely  the  eyes  of  the  soul,  and  banishing 
utterly  from  his  thoughts  the  memory  of  every  one  of  the 
saints,  with  his  heart  a  perfect  void  and  swept  clean,  to  submit 
himself  to  thy  guidance  and  sophistry  ?  Great  indeed  would 

1  TTJV  naXijv  TCapaxaraQr/xyr.       2  "Exov  T&r  dvrrpoqxvv 


416  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

be  thy  sway,  if  what  the  devil,  with  his  varied  wiles  has  never 
attained  to,  should  fall  to  thy  lot  at  thy  command, — if,  that  is, 
at  thy  persuasion,  we  should  judge  that  tradition  which  has 
prevailed  amongst  so  many  holy  men  throughout  the  whole 
of  the  years  that  have  flown  by,  deserving  of  less  honor  than 
thy  impious  fancy." 

298. — u  lie  (Eunomius)  begins  by  laying  down  a  profession 
of  faith  composed  of  simple  and  vague  words,  a  creed  which 
some  of  the  fathers  have  also  made  use  of,  when  not  applying 
themselves  to  the  disputes  which  are  now  under  our  view,  but 
when  discoursing  in  simple  style  and  cursorily  in  simplicity  of 
heart.  And  although  Arius,  as  is  reported,  with  a  view  to  de 
ceive,  presented  this  very  same  profession  of  faith  to  Alexan 
der  (for  this  is  what  is  reported),  yet  does  he  produce  this 
very  form  as  agreeing  with  his  own  sentiments,  and  this  he 
does  for  two  reasons  ;  one,  that  he  may  escape  the  imputation 
of  novelty,  in  that  he  receives  as  orthodox  the  profession  of 
faith  of  the  fathers ;  and  the  other,  that  all  that  have  trusted 
to  the  simplicity  of  the  expressions  might  fall,  without  per 
ceiving  it,  into  the  snares  of  his  sophistical  teaching.  He,  at 
this  same  time,  had  this  persuasion,  that,  whilst  explaining 
what  is  found  in  the  fathers,  he  would  have  it  in  his  power  to 
insinuate  his  opinions  under  a  fair  outside,  and  above  all  that 
his  impiety  would  lie  concealed.  Whilst,  were  it  even  de 
tected,  he  might  still  have  an  appearance  of  being  free  from 
guilt,  as  having  asserted  nothing  of  his  own,  nor  from  himself, 
but  been  only  the  interpreter  of  the  opinions  of  others.  In  all 

1  In  the  appendix  to  t.  i.  part  2,  will  be  found  the  entire  work  of 
Eunomius:  the  context  to  the  extract  given  above  is  as  follows,  p.  888: 
"  And  to  hold  the  teaching  of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  in  higher  reverence 
than  any  multitude  of  men ;  than  all  ambitious  views  and  fondness  for  dis 
putation  ;  than  all  ties,  whether  of  habit  or  of  relationship ;  and,  to  say  all 
in  one  word,  than  all  those  things  which  commonly  influence  the  soul's 
judgment;  and  (thus)  to  judge  of  what  is  said  with  a  mind  well  disposed 
towards  truth."  St.  Gregory  of  Nyssa,  in  his  first  book  against  Eunomius 
(t.  ii.  pp.  305-6),  refers  to  this  same  passage  of  Eunomius  thus:  "Who  asks 
of  the  readers  of  this  book,  not  to  look  to  the  multitude  of  witnesses,  not  to 
regard  their  antiquity,  nor  to  let  their  sentiments  be  swayed  by  the  trust 
worthiness  of  these  men  as  being  of  greater  weight?" 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  417 

this  he  was  quite  unconscious  of  being  the  object  of  some 
thing  very  laughable.  For,  after  long  and  great  praise  be 
stowed  on  the  profession  of  faith  of  the  fathers,  he  shortly 
afterwards  covers  it  with  the  most  shameful  reproaches.  But, 
with  the  view  of  rendering  what  I  say  plainer,  I  will  divide 
his  treatise  into  parts,  and  thus  examine  it." 

Eunomius. — "  Having  first  set  down,  says  he,  that  pious  tra 
dition  which  prevailed  from  the  first  amongst  the  fathers,  as  a 
kind  of  gnomon  and  rule,  let  us  make  use  of  this  as  an  accu 
rate  criterion  in  coming  to  a  judgment  on  what  is  said."  1  .  .  . 

Basil. — "  And  having  set  down  the  (afore-named)  profession 
of  faith,  he  at  once  passes  on  to  his  interpretations  ;  for  this 
reason,  amongst  others,  that  that  profession  is  not  sufficient  to 
do  away  with  the  accusations  under  which  he  lies.  Why  then 
begin  with  this,  and  not  come  at  once  to  declarations  which 
are  at  once  precise,  and  would  free  thee  from  those  accusa 
tions  ?  But  now  he  puts  forward  this  profession  of  faith  as  a 
safe  '  criterion,'  and  then  he  corrects  it  as  containing  nothing 
'sound.  .  .  .  Tell  me,  this  pious  tradition  of  the  fathers,  and, 
as  you  yourself  have  termed  it,  this  '  rule  and  gnomon  and  safe 
criterion,'  is  it  now,  on  the  contrary,  proclaimed  to  be  an  in 
strument  of  deceit,  and  a  means  of  deceiving  ?  For  '  if  it  suit 
not  those  who  are  truly  Christians,  but  those  only  who  choose 
rather  to  seem  such,  than  to  be  such,'  what  else  but  this  ought 
to  be  thought  of  this  profession  of  faith  ?  Who,  not  utterly 
insane,  would  say  that  the  rule  of  right  was  suited  to  men 
whose  minds  are  warped,  or  the  gnomon  of  truth  suited  to  the 
enemies  of  truth  ?  .  .  .  But,  from  the  cause  already  given,  he 
was  driven  upon  this  manifest  contradiction,  in  order  that 
wherein  he  praises  the  profession  of  faith,  he  may  have  the 
semblance  of  holding  with  the  fathers  of  piety,  whilst  where 
in  that  he  attacks  it,  he  may  open  to  himself  a  path- way  for 
his  interpretations.  Hence  is  it  that  he  says  of  the  same  pro 
fession  of  faith  that  it  is  a  rule,  and  then  asserts  that  it  stands 

al  navova,  dupiftsl 


418  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

in  need  of  additions  in  more  accurate  terms.  Whilst,  to  any 
one  that  might  choose  to  sift  this  thoroughly,  this  very  con 
duct  would  be  an  indication  of  the  very  lowest  degree  of  igno 
rance.  For  assuredly  a  rule,  and  a  gnomon,  O  thou  wisest  of 
men,  so  long  as  it  is  wanting  in  nothing  that  constitutes  a  rule 
and  a  gnomon,  admits  not  of  any  addition  in  order  to  its  accu 
racy.  For  an  addition  supplies  some  omission,  and  if  imper 
fect,  it  could  not  in  correctness  of  language  receive  any  such 
appellation."—^^.  Eunom.  Lib.  i.  t.  1,  Par.  1,  n.  3-5,  pp. 
297-301. 

He  says  to  Eunomius,  who  pretended  to  have  discovered  the 
substance  of  God,  "  It  remains  then  for  them  to  assert  that,  by 
means  of  words,  they  have  discovered  the  substance  of  His  di 
vinity.  Where  are  these  words  ?  In  what  part  of  Scrip 
ture  are  they  set  down  ?  By  which  of  the  saints  have  they 
been  handed  down  ?"  '—  11.  n.  12,  p.  317.  See  also  Ibid.  I. 
iii.  n.  1,  p.  385. 

u  Let  tradition  shame  thee  from  separating  the  Holy  Ghost 
from  Father  and  Son.  Thus  did  the  Lord  teach,  Apostles 
preach,  fathers  preserve,  martyrs  confirm.  Let  it  suffice  thee 
to  speak  as  thou  hast  been  taught,  and  let  me  not  hear  these 
sophisms/'—  T.  ii.  P.  1,  Horn.  Contr.  Salell.  n.  6,  p.  272. 

Having  proved  that  the  phrase  with  the  Son  is  sanctioned 
by  usage  and  tradition,  he  says  :  "  But  that  it  is  the  tradition  of 
the  fathers  is  not  the  whole  of  our  case  ;  for  they  too  followed 
the  meaning  of  Scripture,  starting  from  the  testimonies  which 
we  just  now  laid  before  you  from  Scripture."—  T7.  iii.  P.  1, 
Lib.  de  S.  Sancto,  c.  7,  §  16,  pp.  18,  19. 

"  Let  us  now  also  inquire  what  our  common  notions  are  con 
cerning  the  Spirit,  as  well  these  collected  together,  concerning 
Him,  from  the  Scriptures,  as  those  which  we  have  been  taught 
from  the  unwritten  tradition  of  the  fathers."  *—2bid.  c.  ix. 
§22,^.24-5. 

"  But  what  is  attacked  is  faith  ;  and  it  is  the  common  aim  of 


1  'Tito  Tiro's  rear  dyiosv 

2  'En  TTj^,  dypd(pov  Ttapado6KGoS  T&V 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  419 

every  adversary  and  enemy  of  sound  doctrine  to  shake  the 
firmness  of  faith  in  Christ,  by  keeping  out  of  sight  and  level 
ling  to  the  earth  apostolical  tradition.1  Hence,  like  debtors 
—  honest  ones  no  doubt,  —  they  cry  out  for  proofs  out  of  the 
written  word,  dismissing  the  unwritten  testimony  of  the  fa 
thers  as  worth  nothing."  a  —  Ibid.  c.  x.  §  24,  p.  29. 

"  They  (the  impugners  of  the  divinity  of  the  Holy  Ghost) 
ask  us  *  why  then,  since  the  word  in  is  peculiarly  applicable 
to  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  suffices  for  whatsoever  we  conceive 
concerning  Him,  have  you  introduced  the  new  monosyllable, 
saying,  with  the  Spirit,  and  not,  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  using 
words  after  all  neither  necessary  nor  decreed  by  the  churches  ?' 
That  this  word  in  has  not  been  set  aside  as  something  specially 
allotted  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  but  is  common  to  the  Father  and  Son, 
has  been  declared  above.  I  think  that  enough  has  been  said  to 
show  that  it  raises  the  thoughts  of  those  who  are  not  utterly 
perverted,  to  the  very  highest  elevation.  It  remains  then  for 
me  to  discourse  concerning  the  origin  of  the  word  with,  its 
force,  and  its  accordance  with  Scripture.  Of  the  dogmas  and 
teachings  preserved  in  the  Church,  we  have  some  from  the 
doctrine  committed  to  writing,  and  some  we  have  received, 
transmitted  to  us  in  a  secret  manner  (mystery)  from  the  tradi 
tion  of  the  Apostles  ;  both  these  have  the  same  force  in  form 
ing  religion  (piety)  :  3  and  no  one  will  gainsay  either  of  these  ; 
no  one,  that  is,  that  has  the  least  experience  of  the  ecclesias 
tical  laws.  For  should  we  attempt  to  reject,  as  not  having 
any  great  authority,4  the  unwritten  things  of  (our)  customs,6 


KoivoS  GKOTtoS  .  .  .  TO  tiTEpeoona  Tr?$  els  Xpidrdv  TCiGreaoS  Kara. 
£K  rov  rrfv  aitotiroXiHrfv  Ttapddotiiv 


2  Tds  kn  TGOV  kyypdtpoov  aitodsiZEiS  ticiftowvTai,  TJ]V  aypacpov 
Ttarepoov  naprvpiav  &?£  ovdsroS  d^iav  aTtoTte/iiTrojusvoi. 

3  Taor  kv  rrj  EKnkrjGict.  TtEfyvXaynevGov  doy^drGov  Hal  nr]  >pvy  ndr  GOV  , 
rd  ukv  £H  Tfo  eyypd(pov  SidatiKaXiaS  e'xoiiev,  rd  ds  su  rrf-,  T<£>V  dito6- 
ToA.Gdr   TtapaSoGscdS  diadoQerra   tfjuir   kv  juvdr^pioa   Ttctpsde^d^sQa  • 
dnsp  (X/u<porepa  rrjv  avrrjv  i6xvv  £%EI  7tpo<3  rrjv  evdefieiav. 

4  Avva^iv. 

5  To.  dypa<pa  T&V  &$(£v.     What  St.  Basil  comprises  under  the  word 

may  be  gathered  from  a  similar  passage  which  occurs  in  his  brother's 


420  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

we  should  be  betrayed  into  injuring  the  Gospel  even  in  pri 
mary  matters,  or,  rather,  into  circumscribing  the  Gospel  into  a 
mere  name.  For  instance,  to  begin  with  a  matter  that  is  fore 
most  and  most  common  ;  who  has  taught  in  writing,  that  they 
who  have  placed  their  hopes  on  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  are  to  be  signed  with  the  sign  of  the  cross  ?  What 
writing  has  taught  us  to  turn,  during  prayer,  to  the  east  ? 
Which  of  the  saints  has  left  us  in  writing  the  words  of  the 
invocation  in  the  consecration  of  the  bread  of  the  eucharist,1 
and  of  the  chalice  of  benediction  ?  For  we  are  not  content 
with  the  words  which  the  Apostle  or  the  Gospel  commemo 
rates,  but  we  also  add  many  both  before  and  after,  as  having 
great  force  as  relates  to,  (or,  towards)  the  mystery, — words 
which  we  have  received  from  an  unwritten  teaching.  We  also 
bless  both  the  baptismal  water,  and  the  oil  of  unction,  yea  also 
the  person  that  is  baptized.  From  what  written  records  ?  Is 
it  not  from  a  silent  and  mystic  tradition  ?  Nay,  what  written 
word  has  even  taught  the  very  anointing  with  oil?  And 
whence  learn  we  that  a  man  is  to  be  thrice  dipped  ?  And  as 
to  the  other  things  touching  baptism,  as  the  renouncing  Satan 
and  his  angels,  from  what  writing  is  this  derived  ?  Is  it  not 
from  that  private  and  secret  teaching  which  our  fathers  (who 

eleventh  book  against  Eunomius  (/.  ii.  p.  705).  After  citing  a  passage  from 
Eunomius  (p.  904),  wherein  he  contended  that  it  was  not  "  from  the  peculiar 
nature  of  the  rites  (IQaov)  and  mystic  symbols,  but  from  a  careful  examina 
tion  of  dogmas,  that  the  mystery  of  piety  was  to  be  proved,'*  he  observes, 
"  We  however  believe,  that  by  the  confession  of  the  divine  names,  of  the 
Father,  I  mean,  and  Son  and  Holy  Ghost,  the  mystery  of  piety  is  proved ; 
and  that,  by  the  communication  of  the  mystic  rites  (tOcSr)  and  symbols, 
salvation  is  confirmed.  .  .  .  For  if  useless  is  the  confession  of  the  venerable 
and  honored  names  of  the  Holy  Trinity — useless  the  rites  (e'Qrf)  of  the 
Church — whilst  amongst  these  rites  is  the  seal,  prayer,  baptism,  the  con 
fession  of  sins,  a  mind  zealous  towards  the  commandments,  &c.  (EY  6s 
TOI$  I'Qetii  rovroiS  ttfrlv  ?j  6(ppaylS,  rj  Ttpotievxrf,  TO  /?a7rrztf,ua,  77 
roar  anapTi&v  tzayopKvtiiS)." 

1  Td  rrjS  eitiKXrftiEGoS  prj^ara  enl  ry  dvadei^si  rov  aprov  rrjS 
Evxapi6rto$-  kni  rfi  ctra8ei$ei — a  Liturgical  phrase,  the  meaning  of 
which  is  that  given  in  the  text.  See  Ben.  Ed.  in  loco,  and  the  note  by 
Ducceus  in  loco. — Renaudot  (t.  i.  p.  241)  remarks  that  Ttoieiv,  avadEixvv- 
rai,  and  diKxpaiveiv,  have  the  same  Liturgical  meaning.  (T.  i.  Liturg. 
Orient,  p.  241.  Paris,  1716.) 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  421 

had  been  well  tutored  in  this,  that  reverence  for  the  mysteries 
was  thoroughly  preserved  by  silence)  guarded  in  stillness,  safe 
from  curiosity  and  idle  interference  ?  For  how  could  it  be  fit 
ting  to  parade  in  writing  things  which  it  is  not  even  lawful 
for  the  uninitiated  to  look  upon  ?  [This  Disciplines  Arcani 
he  proceeds  to  show  to  be  in  accordance  with  the  old  law.] 
And  after  the  same  form  did  the  Apostles  and  fathers,  who 
originally  instituted  the  things  that  relate  to  the  churches,  pre 
serve  in  secrecy  and  silence  the  reverence  due  to  the  mysteries. 
For  that  is  no  mystery  at  all,  that  is  brought  within  the  know 
ledge  of  the  people  indiscriminately.  This  is  the  cause  of  the 
tradition  of  unwritten  matters,  that  thus  the  neglected  know 
ledge  of  the  dogmas  might  not  through  familiarity  be  despised 
by  the  multitude.  Dogma  is  one  thing,  and  preaching  another  :  ' 
for  the  former  is  guarded  in  silence,  whilst  preachings  are 
openly  proclaimed.  A  kind  of  silence  too  is  the  obscurity  ob 
served  in  Scripture,  which  obscurity  renders  the  meaning  of 
the  dogmas  more  difficult  of  attainment,  for  the  advantage  of 
the  readers.  This  is  the  reason  why  we  all  turn  towards  the 
east  in  prayer  ;  few,  however,  know  that  we  are  thereby  seek 
ing  our  ancient  country,  Paradise.  [After  citing  other  in 
stances,  he  proceeds  :]  The  day  would  fail  me  in  the  enumera 
tion  of  the  mysteries  of  the  Church  which  are  not  contained 
in  Scripture.  I  omit  the  other  instances  :  the  very  confession 
of  faith  in  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  from  what  written 
record  have  we  it  ?  ...  If  these  men  reject  the  expression 
used  in  the  doxology  because  it  is  unwritten,  let  them  produce 
for  us  the  written  proofs  both  of  the  profession  of  faith  (in 
baptism),  and  of  the  other  matters  which  we  have  enumerated. 
Further,  seeing  that  there  are  so  many  things  unwritten,  and 
which  have  so  great  force  as  regards  the  mystery  of  godliness, 
will  they  not  allow  us  an  expression  that  has  come  down  to  us 
from  the  fathers  ;  an  expression  which  we  find  abiding,  in  an 


ydp  Soyna,  ual  aXXo  urjpvy  jua  —  these  are  the  same  terms 
that  are  used  in  the  first  sentence  of  this  extract,  and  seem  to  mean  the 
secret  and  public  doctrines  of  Christianity. 


422  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

unpretending  custom,  in  the  churches,  that  have  not  been  cor 
rupted  ;  an  expression  which  has  no  slight  reason  in  its  favor, 
and  which  furnishes  no  inconsiderable  completeness  to  the 
power  of  the  mystery?"  —T.  iii.  p.  1,  De  S.  Seme.  c.  xxvii. 
§  65,  pp.  74-80.  * 

He  returns  to  the  same  question  in  the  following  passage  : 
"  And  in  reply  to  what  is  objected  that  the  words  of  the  doxo- 
logy  *  with  the  Spirit, '  are  unsupported  by  testimony,  and  not 
found  in  Scripture,  we  say  that,  if  there  be  nothing  else  re 
ceived  that  is  not  in  Scripture,  then  do  not  let  this  be  received  : 
but,  if  most  that  is  mystical  is  received  by  us  though  not  in 
Scripture,  with  those  many  other  things  let  us  receive  this  too. 
And  it  is,  in  my  opinion,  apostolical  to  adhere  to  unwritten 
traditions,1  for,  I  praise  you  that  you  have  borne  in  mind  all 
my  teaching,  and  that  you  keep  my  traditions  as  I  delivered 
them  unto  you  (1  Cor.  xi.  2)  :  and,  Hold  the  tradition  which 
you  have  learned,  whether  by  word  of  mouth,  or  by  (our)  epistle 
(2  Thess.  ii.  14) ;  of  which  traditions  the  matter  before  us  is  one, 
which  they,  who  from  the  first  prescribed  and  transmitted  to 
their  successors, — usage  always  going  hand  in  hand  with  time, 
—have  firmly  rooted  by  lengthened  consuetude  in  the  churches. 
If  then,  though  destitute  of  proof  from  Scripture,  we  produce 
before  you,  as  in  a  court  of  justice,  a  multitude  of  witnesses, 
shall  we  not  obtain  from  you  judgment  in  our  favor  ?  I  think 
we  shall,  for  in  the  mouth  of  two  or  three  witnesses  every  word 
shall  stand  (Deut.  xix.  15).  And  if  we  shall  also  clearly  de 
monstrate  to  you,  that  we  have  with  us  a  long  period  of  time, 
will  not  what  we  say  seem  probable  to  you,  that  this  attack 
cannot,  in  justice,  be  directed  against  us  ?  For  long  standing 
dogmas  in  some  way  command  respect,  as  carrying  with  them, 
by  their  antiquity,  reverence  from  a  sort  of  grayness  of  age. 
I  will  enumerate  to  you  the  supporters  of  this  phraseology, 
&c.  [He  then  adduces  extracts  from  the  writings  of  St. 
Irenmus,  St.  Dionysius  of  Alexandria,  St.  Clement  of  Rome, 

61  oinaiy  Koci  TO  raiS  dypatpoiS  TtapaSotietii  napa- 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  423 

Origen,  St.  Gregory  Thaumaturgus,  &c.,  and  he  applies  their 
testimony,  and  the  concurrence  of  the  churches,  which  he  also 
adduces,  thus  :]  How  then  am  I  an  innovator,  and  an  inventor 
of  new  phrases,  when  I  exhibit  whole  nations  and  cities,  and 
usage  older  than  the  memory  of  man,  and  men  who  are  pillars 
of  the  Church,  distinguished  in  every  kind  of  knowledge  and 
power  of  the  spirit,  as  first  to  use,  and  as  supporters  of  this 
phrase  ?  .  .  .  With  all  well  disposed  men  there  is  a  sufficient 
defence  in  what  has  been  said,  that  we  receive  a  word  so  be 
loved  and  familiarly  used  by  the  saints,  and  confirmed  by  so 
lengthened  a  use.  For  it  is  shown  to  have  been  common  in 
the  Church,  from  the  promulgation  of  the  Gospel  even  until 
now,  and  what  is  of  most  moment,  it  has  been  proved  to  have 
a  pious  and  holy  meaning."— Ibid.  c.  29,  §  71,  pp.  83-8. 

"  Some  are  carried  away  into  Judaism,  by  confounding  the 
persons  (of  the  Trinity),  and  others  to  Paganism,  by  establish 
ing  an  opposition  of  natures;  neither  the  divine  Scriptures 
sufficing  to  mediate  between  them,  nor  the  apostolical  tradi 
tions  to  settle  their  differences  with  each  other." Hid.  c. 

xxx.  §  76,  p.  92. 

"  Not  to  follow  the  fathers  [he  is  speaking  of  some  who  re 
jected  the  word  i  unsubstantial,']  and  not  to  set  their  voice  as  of 
more  authority  than  their  opinion,  deserves  reproof,  as  a  thing 
replete  with  pride."— T.  iii.  P.  1,  Ep.  52,  ad  Canonicas,p.  207. 
"  A  subversion  of  faith  is  contemplated  amongst  you ;  a  sub 
version  adverse  to  the  apostolical  and  evangelical  dogmas, 
adverse  also  to  the  tradition  of  the  truly  great  Gregory  (Thau 
maturgus),  and  of  his  successors  down  to  blessed  Musonius, 
whose  instructions  indeed  yet  ring  in  your  ears."— Ib.  P.  2,  Ep. 
ccx.  ad  Primores  Neoccesar.  n.  3,  p.  455. 

ST.  PACIAN,  L.  C.— "  What !  is  the  authority  derived  from 
apostolic  men,  from  the  first  priests,  from  that  most  blessed 
martyr  and  doctor,  Cyprian,"  &c.,  as  given  under  "  Catholicity." 
See  also  the  extracts  given  under  "Authority" 

ST.  DAMASUS,  POPE,  L.  C.— See  the  extract  given  under  "Au 
thority." 


424  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

FAUSTINTJS,  L.  C.1— "  I  will  declare  of  the  Holy  Ghost  that 
He  is  fully  God  and  Lord,  thus  taught  by  ecclesiastical  men  who 
have  preceded  me  ;  who,  themselves  also,  having  been  previ 
ously  instructed  in  the  testimonies  of  the  divine  Scriptures  by 
apostolic  men,  have  delivered  them  to  their  successors." — De 
Trin.  c.  vii.  n.  3,  Galland.  t.  vii.  p.  459. 

ST.  SIEICIUS,  POPE,  L.  C. — "  Wherefore  following  the  pre 
cept  of  the  Apostle,  know  that  it  was  the  unanimous  opinion, 
as  well  of  all  our  priests  and  deacons,  as  also  of  all  the  clergy, 
that  seeing  that  these  men  have  taught  otherwise  than  we  have 
received,'  they  ought,  Jovinian,  that  is,  Auxentius,  &c.,  both 
by  the  divine  sentence,  and  our  judgment,  to  be  for  ever  con 
demned  to  be  without  the  pale  of  the  Church.'' — Ep.  v.  ad 
Episc.  Divers,  n.  4,  Galland.  t.  vii.  pp.  541-2. 

"  We  know  that  many  bishops,  in  various  churches,  have,  so 
as  to  cause  their  names  to  be  ill-spoken  of,  with  human  pre 
sumption,  been  so  over-hasty  as  to  change  the  tradition  of  their 
fathers,  and  have,  from  this  cause,  fallen  into  the  darkness  of 
heresy.'  .  .  .  And  now,  since  not  for  the  sake  of  examining, 
but  as  a  confirmation  of  the  faith,  your  holiness  has  deigned 
to  ask,  from  the  authority  of  the  apostolic  see,  as  well  the 
knowledge  of  the  law,  as  the  traditions  .  .  .  hear,  as  far  as  the 
divine  bounty  shall  till  our  minds,  an  answer  to  your  sincere 
inquiries." — I bid.  Ep.  viii.  Sen  Canones  Synod.  Rom.  ad  Epis. 
GaUos.  n.  2,  p.  545. 

"  It  has  been  arranged  by  apostolic  discipline,"  &c.,  as  given 
under  "  Unity." 

"  In  the  council  of  Nicaea,  the  Holy  Ghost  favoring,  at  the 
same  time  that  the  confession  of  faith  was  juridically  confirmed, 
it  was  the  desire  of  the  bishops  there  assembled  together,  that 
the  apostolical  traditions  *  should  come  to  the  knowledge  of  all 

1  He  is  mentioned,  as  a  writer  against  the  Arians,  by  Gennadius,  De 
Vir.  Illus.  c.  ii.     His  works  are  given  by  Gallandius,  t.  vii. 
5  Quia  aliter  quam  quod  accepimus  annuntiabant. 

3  Patriam  traditionem  mutare  properasse,  atque  per  hanc  caussam  in 
haeresis  tenebras  cecedisse. 

4  Apostolicas  traditiones. 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  425 

men.     And  they  defined  amongst  other  things,"  &G.—JUd.  Ep. 
viii.  n.  13,^?.  548. 

"  Walking  in  the  footsteps  of  the  fathers,  and  instructed  by 
the  words  of  Scripture,1  we  teach  and  proclaim  in  the  churches, 
and  confess  the  Trinity  uncreated,  eternal,"  &c. — Synod. 
Hieros.ad  Theoph.  Alex.  Galland.  t.  vii.j9.  613. 

THEOPHILUS  OF  ALEXANDRIA,  G.  C. — "  Since  he  has  strayed 
away  into  a  different  path  from  that  pointed  out  by  the  rules  of 
the  Apostles,  he  is,  as  a  man,  unworthy  and  profane,  cast  forth 
from  the  choir  of  Christ,  and  from  the  fellowship  of  His  mys 
teries  ;  and  striving,  as  he  does,  to  join  the  tattered  and  anti 
quated  rags  of  the  philosophers  to  the  new  and  firm  garment 
of  the  Church,  and  to  unite  the  true  witli  the  false,  he  is  driven 
far  away  from  the  fathers  and  elders  who  founded  the  Church 
of  the  Saviour."—  Hid.  Epist.  Pasch.  n.  9,  JP.  626. 

ST.  EPIPHANIUS,  G.  C.— "  As  to  the  parentage  of  the  three 
children,  Sidrach,  Misach,  and  Abdenago,  we  do  not  meet  with 
anything,  either  in  the  Apocrypha,  or  in  tradition.  What  then 
are  we  to  say  ?  Shall  they,  I  mean  Sidrach,  and  the  rest,  lead 
us  astray  into  unbeseeming  assertions,  and  into  exceeding  and 
unmeasured  wonder  at  every  thing  that  falls  under  our  notice  ? 
Far  be  this  from  us.  For  boundaries  have  been  fixed  for  us, 
and  foundations  laid,  and  we  have  the  dwelling-place  of  faith, 
and  traditions  of  Apostles,  and  sacred  Scriptures,  and  succes 
sions  of  doctrine,  and  on  every  side  has  God's  truth  been  se 
cured  ;  and  let  none  of  us  be  led  astray  by  empty  fables." — 
T.  1,  adv.  Ilceres.  (55),  pp.  470-71. 

"  But  all  the  divine  words  require  not  to  be  treated  as  alle 
gories,  but  must  be  taken  as  they  stand.  But  there  needs 
consideration  and  understanding  to  see  the  force  of  each  state 
ment.  It  is  also  necessary  to  use  tradition :  for  all  things 
cannot  be  derived  from  the  divine  Scriptures  ;  because  the  holy 
Apostles  transmitted  some  things  indeed  in  writings,  and  some 
in  tradition,  as  the  blessed  Apostle  declares,2  As  1  have  delivered 

1  Insistentes  patrum  vestigiis,  et  scripturarum  vocibus  eruditi. 
s  Ael  de  nai  Ttapadotiei  Hexpfjtfjai  •  ov  yap  itdvra.  and  rr/S 


426  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

unto  you  (1  Cor.  xi.  2)  ;  and  elsewhere,  So  do  I  teach,  and  so 
have  I  delivered  in  the  churches  :  Also,  If  ye  remember,  unless 
you  have  believed  in  vain.  Wherefore,  the  holy  Apostles  of 
God  have  transmitted  to  the  holy  Church  of  God,  that  it  is 
sinful,  after  having  determined  on  virginity,  to  turn  to  wed 
lock."—^?;.  Havre*.  (61),  #p.  510-11.  He  speaks,  in  the  same 
page,  of  virgins  consecrated  to  God.  See  also  ibid.  Hcer.  64, 
p.  532,  B. 

"  Now  of  these  which  is  the  wiser  ?  This  deceived  man 
(Aerius)  who  has  just  now  obtained  notoriety,  and  who  is  still 
living  ;  or  they  who  were  witnesses  before  us,  who  held  before 
us  the  tradition  in  (or  for)  the  Church,1  and  who  themselves 
had  received  it  from  their  fathers,  whose  fathers  again  had 
learnt  it  from  their  forefathers,  even  as  the  Church,  having 
received  the  true  faith  from  its  fathers,  retains  it,  together 
with  the  traditions,'  even  unto  this  day."—  Adv.  Hceres.  75, 
p.  910. 

"  Shall  any  one  be  able  to  annul  a  mother's  command,  or  a 
father's  law  ?  Even  as  was  said  by  Solomon,  My  son  hear  the 
words  of  thy  father,  and  forsake  not  the  laws  of  thy  mother 
(Prov.  i.  8.),  pointing  out  that  the  Father,  (that  is,  the  only- 
begotten  God)  and  the  Holy  Spirit  have  taught  both  in  writing 
and  without  writing  ;  3  and  that  our  holy  mother,  the  Church, 
has  laws  abiding  in  her  indissoluble,  incapable,  that  is,  of  being 
dissolved.  Laws  which  are  excellent,  and  all  to  be  admired, 
having  been  established  in  the  Church,  this  deceiver  (Aerius)  is 
again  convicted.  And  passing  this  man  by  as  a  beetle,  or  an 
insect,  let  us  pass  on,  overthrowing  him  by  the  solid  ground 
work  of  the  Church,4  and  by  the  power  of  God."—  Adv.  Hares. 


fS  Svrarai  \atifidvE6Qai.     Aio  rd  nkv  kv  ypacpaXy  rd  de  EY 
i  icapsSaoxav  oi  dyioi  dno6ro\oi  •  o?5  q>r}6lv  6  ayioS  dito6- 


npo  rjn&v  rr/v  itapdSotiiv  kill 

.  .  .  -nare^i  rrjv  d\rjBtv^v  Tti6nvy  ual 
8  4si$aS  on  syypdqxaS  TE  ual 

* 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  427 

"  For,  this  have  we  by  messengers  required,  to  this  have  we 
exhorted,  and  we  still  continue  exhorting,  to  remove  all  con 
tention,  and  to  adhere  to  the  divine  law  of  the  Apostles,  and 
evangelists,  and  fathers,1  and  to  the  confession  of  the  plain,  and 
firm  and  immovable,  and  in  all  points  most  correct,  faith."- 
Ib.  (77),  p.  1008.  At  p.  1015  Ibid.  ITceres.  77,  he  gives  the 
profession  of  faith  drawn  up  for  Paulinus,  bishop  of  Antioch, 
by  St.  Athanasius :  it  begins  with  these  words  : — "  I,  Paulinus, 
think  even  as  I  have  received  from  the  fathers,  &c."  a 

ST.  AMBROSE,  L.  C. — "  Defending  the  word  o^oovaiov^  he 
says,  "  Let  us,  therefore,  guard  the  precepts  of  the  elders,  and 
not,  with  the  rashness  of  untutored  daring,  violate  the  heredi 
tary  land-marks.  That  sealed  prophetic  book,  not  the  ancients, 
not  powers,  not  angels,  not  archangels,  have  dared  to  open  ;  to 
Christ  alone  was  reserved  the  privilege  of  explaining  it.  Who 
amongst  us  will  dare  to  re-open  (or,  abandon)  that  sacerdotal 
book  [the  decrees  of  the  council  of  Nicsea],  sealed  by  confes 
sors,  and  long  since  consecrated  by  the  martyrdom  of  many  ? 
which  book  they  who  were  driven  to  re-open,  did  afterwards 
seal,  and  condemn  the  cheat  practised  on  them :  they  who 
dared  not  violate  it  were  confessors  and  martyrs.  How  can 
we  deny  the  faith  of  those  whose  victory  we  openly  celebrate  ?" 
— T.  ii.  1.  iii.  de  Fide,  c.  xv.  n.  128,  p.  519. 

"How  is  it  then  that  the  name  of  the  council  of  Nicaea 
is  put  forward,  and  novelties  are  brought  in,  which  were 
never  thought  of  by  our  predecessors  ?  "  3 — Ibid,  de  Incarn. 
c.  vi.  n.  52,  p.  715.  See  also  Ibid.  Ep.  xiii.  n.  1,  Theodos. 
p.  814. 

"  Neither  have  we  innovated  anything  ;  but  guarding  what 
was  settled  by  Athanasius  of  holy  memory, — who  was  as  it 
were  a  pillar  of  the  faith, — and  what  was  defined  in  the  coun 
cils  held  by  our  fathers  of  the  old  holiness,  we  tear  not  up  the 
land-marks  which  our  fathers  have  set,  nor  violate  the  rights 

1  Kal  TtarspGov  Beica  Bed /urn. 

2  OvraoS  (ppovcd  naBcSt  Ttapskafiov  aito  roor  TtarepGOv. 

3  Nova  inducuntur,  quse  nunquam  nostri  sensere  majores. 


428  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

of  an  hereditary  communion." — Ibid.  Ep.  xiv.  Theodoa.  n.  7, 
pp.  818-19. 

"As  the  kingdom  of  God  is  not  in  words,  but  in  power;  if 
a  word  gives  offence,  appeal  to  the  power  of  the  profession  (of 
faith).  The  profession  of  faith  is  the  declaration  which  we 
hold  as  handed  down  from  our  predecessors '  against  the  Sa- 
bellians  and  Arians." — Ib.  Ep.  xlviii.  Sabino,  n.  4,  p.  990.* 

ST.  JEROME,  L.  C. — "  For  your  admonition  concerning  the 
canons  of  the  Church,  we  return  you  thanks  ;  but  meanwhile, 
know  that  we  have  had  no  earlier  custom  (or,  nothing  is  dearer 
to  us)  than  to  guard  the  rights  of  Christ,  and  not  to  move  the 
land-marks  of  the  fathers,  and  ever  to  bear  in  mind  the  Roman 
faith,3  commended  by  the  mouth  of  an  Apostle,  and  of  which 
faith  the  church  of  Alexandria  boasts  that  it  is  a  partaker."- 
T.  1,  Ep.  Ixiii.  ad  Theopli.  n.  2,  col.  351.  See  also,  for  an 
apostolical  tradition,  under  the  head  "  Lent." 

Being  asked  whether  Saturday  is  to  be  kept  as  a  fast,  and 
the  eucharist  to  be  received  daily,  as  in  the  Roman  and  Spanish 
churches,  he  says,  "  I  would  give  you  this  brief  admonition, 
that  ecclesiastical  traditions  (such  especially  as  are  of  no  injury 
to  faith)  are  to  be  observed  as  they  have  been  transmitted  by 
those  who  have  gone  before ;  *  and  that  a  custom  which  pre 
vails  in  certain  places  is  not  overthrown  by  a  contrary  custom 
which  may  prevail  elsewhere.  .  .  .  Let  each  province  abound 

1  Professio  autem  fidei  sententia  est  quara  adversus  Sabellianos  .  .  .  ita 
a  majoribus  traditain  tenemus. 

2  The  author  of  the  ancient  treatise  De  Fid.  Orthod.  cont.  Arian.  says: 
"  Nothing  can  be  more  dangerous  than  these  heretics,  who  ...  by  one 
single  word,  as  though  it  were  a  drop  of  poison,  infect  the  simple  faith  of 
the  Lord's  tradition,  and  by  consequence  that  of  apostolical  tradition  .  .  . 
and  if  you  pay  a  more  diligent  and  careful  attention  to  the  reason  why  they 
wish  the  word  '  substance  '  removed  from  the  evangelical  and  apostolic  faith, 
and  from  the  tradition  of  the  Fathers  (et  de  Patrum  traditione),  you  will 
without  doubt  ascertain  that  the  Arian  heresy,  when   reduced  to  a  keen 
analysis,  is  at  once  introduced  as  soon  as  this  word  is  set  aside." — Inter  Op. 
S.  Ambrosii,  col.  347-8,  Appendix. 

3  Scito  nihil  nobis  esse  antiquius  quam  Christi  jura  servare,  nee  patrum 
transferre  terminos,  semperque  meminisse  Romanam  fidem. 

4  Traditiones  ecclesiastics  (praesertim  quae  fidei  non  officiant)  ita  obser- 
vandas,  ut  a  majoribus  traditas  sunt. 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  429 

in  its  own  sense,  and  account  the  precepts  of  the  fathers  apos 
tolic  laws."  '— T.  1,  Ep.  Ixxi.  ad  Lucin.  n.  6,  col.  432-33. 

"  Art  thou  ignorant  that  it  is  the  custom  of  the  churches  for 
hands  to  be  imposed  upon  the  baptized  after  their  baptism, 
and  that  thus  the  Holy  Ghost  is  invoked?  Dost  thou  ask 
where  this  is  written?  In  the  acts  of  the  Apostles.  Even 
though  the  authority  of  the  Scripture  were  not  at  hand, 
the  agreement  of  the  whole  world  in  this  matter  would 
prevail  as  a  command.  For  many  other  things  also,  that,  by 
tradition,  are  observed  in  the  churches,  have  gained  for  them 
selves  the  authority  of  a  written  law,*  as  the  dipping  the  head 
three  times  in  the  laver,  &c." — T.  ii.  Adv.  Luciferi.  n.  8,  col. 
180.  The  above  remark  is  by  the  Luciferian,  but  is  acknow 
ledged  by  Jerome. 

ST.  J.  CHRYSOSTOM,  G.  C. — Commenting  on  1  Cor.  xi.  2, 
That  in  all  things  you  are  mindful  of  me,  and  keep  my  ordi 
nances,  as  I  have  delivered  them  to  you.  "  Whence  it  follows 
that  he  delivered  them  many  things  also  without  writing,9  as 
he  shows  elsewhere  in  many  places :  but  at  that  time  he  only 
delivered  (them),  but  now  he  also  lays  down  the  cause.  .  .  . 
JSut  if  any  man  seem  to  be  contentious,  we  have  no  such  (Cus 
tom,  nor  the  churches  of  God  (16).  It  is  therefore  conten 
tiousness  to  oppose  these  things,  and  not  an  exercise  of  reason. 
.  .  .  For  we,  sayeth  he,  have  no  such  custom,  so  as  to  contend, 
and  to  strive,  and  to  oppose  ourselves.  And  not  even  here 
did  he  stop,  but  also  subjoined,  nor  the  churches  of  God,  show 
ing  that  to  all  the  world  are  they  opposed  and  in  resistance,  by 
not  yielding.  But  even  though  the  Corinthians  at  that  time 
were  contentious,  now  all  the  world  has  both  received  and 
kept  this  very  law.  So  great  is  the  power  of  the  crucified."- 
T.  x.  Horn.  xxvi.  in  Ep.  i.  ad  Cor.  n.  4,  5,  pp.  267,  275. 

Commenting  on  2  Thess.  ii.  14  :  "  Therefore,  brethren,  stand 

1  Prascepta  ma  jorum,  leges  apostolicas  arbitretur. 

2  Etiamsi  Scripturae  auctoritas  non  subesset,  totius  orbis  in  hanc  partem 
consensus  insta  prsecepti  obtineret.     Nam  et  multa  alia  quae  per  traditionem 
in  ecclesiis  observantur,  auctoritatem  sibi  script®  legis  usurpaverunt. 

3  Apa  nai  dypdqx&S  TtoXTid  Ttapedidov  TOTE. 


430  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

fast,  and  hold  the  traditions  which  you  have  learned,  wither 
by  word,  or  by  our  epistle.  Hence  it  is  plain  that  they  did 
not  deliver  all  things  by  epistle,  but  many  things  also  without 
writing,  and  in  like  manner  both  those  and  these  things  are 
worthy  of  credit.1  Wherefore  let  us  reckon  the  tradition  of 
the  Church  worthy  of  credit,  it  is  a  tradition,  seek  nothing 
further."  a — T.  xi.  Horn.  iv.  in  Ep.  ii.  ad  Thess.  n.  2,  p.  615. 

On  2  Tim.  i.  13,  he  says  :  "  Not  by  letters  only  did  he  in 
struct  his  disciple  in  his  duties,  but  before  by  words  also; 
which  he  has  shown  often  and  in  many  other  places,  saying, 
Whether  by  word,  or  by  epistle,  as  from  us.  Let  us  not  therefore 
fancy  that  things  regarding  doctrine  were  spoken  defectively  ; 
for  many  things  did  he  also  deliver  to  him  without  writing,1 
of  which  therefore  he  now  reminds  him,  when  he  said,  Hold 
the  form  of  sound  words  which  thou  hast  heard  of  me" — T. 
xi.  Horn.  iii.  in  Ep.  ii.  ad  Tim.  n.  1,  p.  724. 

On  2  Tim-,  ii.  2 — "  And  the  things  which  thou  hast  heard  of 
me  by  many  witnesses,  tlie  same  commend  to  faithful  men :  to 
faithful  men,  not  to  questioners  (or,  seekers),  not  to  reasoners.4 
To  faithful  men.  To  whom  ?  to  those  who  betray  not  the  gospel 
which  they  should  preach.  The  things  which  thou  hast  heard, 
not  which  thou  hast  searched  out.  Yor  faith  cometh  by  hear 
ing,  and  hearing  by  the  word  of  God.  But  what  is  by  many 
witnesses  f  as  if  he  had  said :  Thou  hast  not  heard  in  secret, 
nor  in  a  hidden  manner,  but  in  the  presence  of  many,  with 
boldness  of  speech.  He  said  not,  tell,  but  commit,  as  in  the 
case  of  a  treasure,  that  which  is  committed  is  deposited  in 
safety." — T.  xi.  Horn.  iv.  in  Ep.  ii.  ad  Tim.  n.  1,  p.  732. 

CENTURY  v. 

ST.  AUGUSTINE,  L.  C. — "  But  those  things  which  we  observe, 
not  because  written,  but  transmitted,5  things  which  are  indeed 

1  'ErrevBev,  8rjA.ov  on  ov  itdvra  <5t?  kititir oXrjS  itapeSidodar, 

xai  dypdcpaos,  o//oz'c»5  8k  no1  ~nf.lv a  Hal  ravrd  iGnv 
*  Hapd8o6i'->  k6n,  i^rjdkv  TtXeov  tyrei. 

3  -ZJoAAa  ydp  avrcp  nal  aypdqzooS  T 

4  Ov  Z,rjTr}TiKot<3  ov  (5vXXoyi6TiKoi$. 

6  Qua?  non  scripta,  sed  tradita  custodimus. 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  431 

observed  throughout  the  whole  world,  it  is  to  be  understood, 
that  they  are  retained  as  commanded  and  decreed,  either  by 
the  Apostles  themselves,  or  by  general  (plenary)  councils,  the 
authority  of  which  is  most  wholesome  in  the  Church ;  as  that 
the  passion,  and  the  resurrection,  and  the  ascension  of  the 
Lord  into  heaven,  and  the  coming  of  the  Holy  Spirit  from 
heaven,  be  celebrated  with  an  anniversary  solemnity ;  and  if 
there  be  anything  else  of  the  like  nature  which  is  observed  by 
the  universal  Church  throughout  its  whole  extent." — T.  ii. 
Epis.  liv.  n.  1,  Januario,  col.  185. 

"  The  custom  of  our  mother  the  Church  in  baptizing  infants 
is  by  no  means  to  be  despised,  nor  to  be  deemed  in  any  way 
superfluous,  nor  to  be  believed  at  all  were  it  not  an  apostolical 
tradition."  l—T.  iii.  De  Genes,  ad  Litt.  I.  x.  n.  39  (al.  23), 
col.  436. 

"  It  is  not  to  be  doubted  that  the  dead  are  aided  by  the  pray 
ers  of  holy  Church,  and  by  the  salutary  sacrifice,  and  by  the 
alms,  which  are  offered  for  their  spirits ;  that  the  Lord  may 
deal  with  them  more  mercifully  than  their  sins  have  deserved. 
For  this,  which  has  been  handed  down  by  the  Fathers,  the 
universal  Church  observes,"  a  &c.  (See  "  Prayers  for  the 
Dead.")—T.  v.  Serm.  clxxii.  n.  2,  col.  1196. 

"  Do  not  therefore  object  against  us  the  authority  of  Cyp 
rian  in  favor  of  repeating  baptism ;  but  adhere  with  us  to  the 
example  of  Cyprian  in  favor  of  preserving  unity.  For  that 
question  about  baptism  had  not  then  been  as  yet  thoroughly 
examined  with  care  ;  but  the  Church  notwithstanding  adhered 
to  a  most  wholesome  practice, — to  amend  what  was  evil  in  the 
heretics  and  schismatics  themselves,  but  not  to  repeat  what 
had  been  given ;  to  make  whole  what  was  wounded,  not  to 
heal  what  was  whole.  Which  practice,  I  believe  (as)  coming 
from  apostolical  tradition :  as  many  things  which  are  not  found 

1  Nee  omnino  credenda  nisi  apostolica  esset  traditio.      On  the  same  sub 
ject  he  says,  "This  the  Church  always  retained,  always  held;  this  she  re 
ceived  from  the  faith  of  our  forefathers ;  this  does  she  persevere  in  guarding 
•even  to  the  end." — T.  v.  Serm.  clxxvi.  n.  i.  col.  1214. 

2  Hoc  enim  a  patribus  traditum,  universa  observat  ecclesia. 


432  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

in  their  (the  Apostles')  writings,  nor  in  the  councils  held  by 
those  who  have  come  after,  and  which,  nevertheless,  because 
they  are  observed  throughout  the  universal  Church,  are  be 
lieved  to  have  been  transmitted  and  commended  by  none 
others  than  themselves  (the  Apostles)."  l — T.  ix.  I.  ii.  De  Bapt. 
Cont.  Don.  n.  12,  col.  189-90. 

"  We  do  not,"  you  say,  "  find  that  any  one  who  had  been 
baptized  amongst  heretics  was,  by  the  Apostles,  admitted  with 
out  baptism,  and  received  into  communion."  "  But  neither 
do  we  find  this,  that  any  one,  on  coming  from  the  heretics 
amongst  whom  he  had  been  baptized,  was  baptized  again  by 
the  Apostles.  But  that  custom  is  rightly  believed  to  have 
been  transmitted  by  the  Apostles,  which  even  then  men  on 
looking  upwards  did  not  see  had  been  instituted  by  those  who 
came  after  (the  Apostles).'  And  many  such  things  there  are 
which  it  would  be  long  to  enumerate.  Wherefore,  if  what 
they  said  was  something, — they  to  whom  Cyprian,  wishing  to 
persuade  his  opinions,  says,  Let  no  one  say,  what  we  received 
from  the  Apostles,  this  we  follow, — with  how  much  greater 
force  do  we  now  say  :  What  the  custom  of  the  Church  always 
held,  what  this  dispute  could  not  dissuade  from,  and  what  a 
general  (plenary)  council  has  confirmed,  this  we  follow.  Add 
to  this,  that  the  arguments  on  both  sides  of  the  dispute,  as 
also  the  Scripture  testimonies  having  been  carefully  exam 
ined,  it  may  also  be  said  :  What  truth  declared,  this  we  fol 
low."—  Ibid  L  iv.  n.  9,  col.  224. 

"  The  universal  Church  holds  that  this  has  been  handed 
down,  seeing  that  little  infants  are  baptized,  who  certainly  can 
not  as  yet  with  the  heart  believe  unto  justice,  and  with  the 
mouth  confess  unto  salvation.  And  yet  no  Christian  wrill  say 

1  Quam  consuetudinem  credo  ex  apostolica  traditione  venientem :  sicut 
multa  qme  non  inveniuntur  in  litteris  eorum,  neque  in  conciliis  posteriorum, 
et  tamen  quia  per  universam  custodiuntur  ecclesiam,  nonnisi  ab  ipsis  tradita 
et  commendata  creduntur. 

2  Sed  ilia  consuetude,  quam  etiam  time  homines  sursum  versus  respi- 
cientes  non  videbant  a  posterioribus  institutam,  recte  ab  apostolis  tradita 
creditur. 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  433 

that  they  are  baptized  in  vain.  And  if  any  seek  for  the  divine 
authority  in  this  matter — though  that  which  the  universal 
Church  holds,  not  instituted  by  councils,  but  always  retained, 
is  most  justly  believed  to  have  been  no  otherwise  transmitted 
than  by  apostolic  authority l — still  are  we  able  to  conjecture 
with  truth  of  what  avail  is  the  sacrament  of  baptism  in  in 
fants,  from  the  circumcision  of  the  flesh,  which  the  former 
people  received."— Ib.  L  iv.  n.  30-1  (o£  23),  col.  243. 

"  But  now  my  mind  is  to  urge  against  you  the  sentiments 
of  the  bishops  who  have  gone  before  us,  men  who  treated  these 
divine  words  faithfully  and  memorably.  [He  then  cites  various 
fathers  against  the  Pelagians,  and  observes :]  what  they  found 
in  the  Church,  they  held  ;  what  they  had  learned,  they  taught ; 
what  they  had  received  from  the  fathers,  this  they  delivered 
to  the  children."  2— T.  x.  1.  ii.  contr.  Jul.  Pelag.  n.  19,  34,  col. 
973,  989. 

ST.  ANASTASIUS,  POPE,  L.  C.8 — "  This,  then,  is  my  opinion, 
that  the  reading  of  this  (Rufinus'  translation  from  Origen)  has 
made  it  clear  to  the  inhabitants  of  this  city,  that  the  author 
(Origen),  by  throwing  a  kind  of  dark  cloud  over  pure  minds, 
had  in  view,  by  his  turnings  and  windings,  to  destroy  the  faith 
of  the  Apostles,  which  has  been  confirmed  also  by  the  tradi 
tion  of  the  fathers.4  ...  If  the  translator  of  so  many  evil 
things  coincide  in  them,  and  bring  them  forward  as  matters  to 
be  read  by  the  people,  he  has  effected  nothing  as  the  result  of 
his  labor,  but  by  the  judgment  of  his  individual  understand 
ing,  to  (try  to)  subvert,  on  the  ground  of  an  unprecedented 
assertion,  things  which  have  been  held,  amongst  Catholic 
Christians  with  true  faith,  as  the  alone  (true),  as  primitive, 

1  Et  si  quisquam  in   hac  re  auctoritatem  divinam  quaerat,  quanquam 
quod  universa  tenet  ecclesia,  nee  conciliis  institutum,  sed  semper  retentum 
est,  nonnisi  auctoritate  apostolica  traditum  rectissime  creditur. 

2  Quod  invenerunt  in  ecclesia,  tenuerunt ;  quod  didicerunt,  docuerunt ; 
quod  a  patribus  acceperunt,  hoc  filiis  tradiderunt. 

3  He  succeeded  Siricius  in  398  and  died  in  401.     Gallandius'  edition  is 
used,  t.  viii.  Bibl.  Vet.  Scrip. 

4  Fidem  apostolorum  et  majorum  traditione  firmatam. 


434  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

from  the  time  of  the  Apostles  until  now.1     Far  be  this  from 
the  Catholic  discipline  of  the  Roman  Church."  [For  continua 
tion   see   under   the   head    "Primacy  of  successors   of  St. 
Peter"] — Gotland,  t.  viii.  Ep.  i.  ad  Joann.  Jeros.  n.  3-5,  p.  247. 
ST.  INNOCENT  I.,  POPE,  L.  C.— "  If  the  priests  of  the  Lord 
but  desired  to    guard    entire   the  ecclesiastical   constitutions 
transmitted  by  the  blessed  Apostles,  there  would  be  no  diver 
sity,  no  variety  in  ordinations  and  consecrations.     But,  while 
each  one  is  of  opinion  that,  not  what  has  been  transmitted,  but 
what  seems  good  to  himself,  is  to  be  held,  thence,  in  different 
places,  or  churches,  there  are  seen  different  (customs)  held  or 
observed :  and  thus  scandal  is  given  to  the  people,  who,  being 
ignorant  that  the  ancient  traditions  have  been  corrupted  by 
human  presumption,  either  think  that  the  churches  do  not 
agree  together,  or  that  this  contrariety  was  introduced  by  the 
Apostles,  or  by  apostolic  men.     For  who  knows  not,  or  notices 
not,  that  what  was  delivered  to  the  Roman  Church  by  Peter, 
the  prince  of  the  Apostles,  and  is  to  this  day  guarded,  ought 
to  be  observed  by  all  men,"  and  that  nothing  ought  to  be 
superinduced,  or  introduced  which  has  not  (that)  authority,  or 
which  may  seem  to  derive    its  precedent  elsewhere, — clear 
especially,  as  it  is,  that  no  one  has  founded  churches  through 
out  the  whole  of  Italy,  the  Gauls,  Spain,  Africa,  and  Sicily, 
and  the  interjacent  islands,  except  those  whom  the  venerable 
Apostle  Peter,  or  his  successors,  appointed  priests  ?     Let  them 
read  whether  in  those  provinces  any  other  of  the  Apostles  is 
found,  or  is  recorded,  to  have  taught      But  if  they  read  of  no 
other,  for  they  never  can  find  any  other,  they  ought  to  follow 
what  is  observed  by  the  Roman  Church  from  which  there  is 
no  doubt  that  they  derived  their  origin,  lest  whilst  they  court 
strange  assertions,  they  be  seen  to  set  aside  the  source  (head) 

1  Nisi  ut,  propriae  velut  mentis  arbitrio,  haec,  quse  sola,  qure  priraa,  quse 
apud  Cathoiicos  Christianos  vera  fide  jam  exinde  ab  apostolis  in  hoc  usque 
tempus  tenentur,  inopinatae  titulo  assertionis,  everteret. 

8  Quis  enim  nesciat  aut  non  advertat,  id  quod  a  principe  apostolorum 
Petro  Romanae  ecclesiae  traditum  est,  ac  nunc  usque  custoditur,  ab  omnibus 
debere  servari. 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  435 

of  their  institutions.1  It  is  well  known  that  your  friendli 
ness  has  often  been  at  Rome,  been  present  with  us  in  church, 
and  cognizant  of  the  customs  which  prevailed  both  in  conse 
crating  the  mysteries,  and  in  the  other  secret  (offices).  We 
should  assuredly  consider  this  sufficient  for  the  information, 
or  the  reformation,  of  your  church,  should  it  be  that  your  pre 
decessors  have  in  any  respect  not  held  with,  or  held  differ 
ently  from,  us,  had  you  not  thought  that  we  were  to  be  con 
sulted  on  certain  matters.  On  these  we  send  you  replies,  not 
as  thinking  you  in  any  respect  ignorant,  but  that  you  may 
regulate  your  people  with  greater  authority  ; 2  or,  should  any 
have  gone  aside  from  the  institutions  of  the  Roman  Church, 
that  you  may  either  yourself  admonish  them,  or  not  delay  to 
point  them  out  to  us,  that  we  may  know  who  they  are  who 
either  introduce  novelties,  or  who  think  that  the  custom  of  any 
other  church,  but  that  of  Rome,  is  to  be  followed."  !  —  Ep. 
xxv.  ad  Decentium,  n.  1-3,  Gotland,  t.  viii.j9.  586. 

ST.  CJELESTINE  I.,  POPE,  L.  C. — "  Whereas  certain  persons, 
who  pride  themselves  in  the  name  of  Catholic,  continuing  in 
the  condemned  opinions,  or  wickedness,  of  these  heretics 
(Pelagius,  &c.),  presume  to  argue  against  the  pious  defenders 
of  the  faith,  and  while  they  do  not  hesitate  to  anathematize 
Pelagius  and  Coelestius,  yet  traduce  our  teachers  as  though 
they  had  exceeded  the  requisite  bounds,  and  profess  that  they 
do  nothing  more  than  follow  and  approve  what  the  most  holy 
see  of  Peter  has,  through  the  ministry  of  its  prelates,  decreed 
and  taught  against  the  enemies  of  the  grace  of  God,  it  became 
necessary  to  inquire  diligently  what  the  rulers  of  the  Church 
of  Rome  have  decided  on  this  heresy,  in  their  days.  [He  then 
cites  Innocent,  Zosimus,  and  others  ;  and  proceeds  to  another 
source  of  evidence,  the  Liturgy.]  Besides  these  inviolable 

1  Ne  dum  peregrinis  assertionibus  student,  caput  institutionum  videantur 
omittere. 

2  Ut  major!  auctoritate  tuos  instituas. 

3  Alterius  ecclesiae,  quam  Romanae,  existimant  consuetudinem  esse  ser- 
vandara. 


436  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS- 

decisions  of  the  apostolic  see1  ...  let  us  also  look  to  the 
sacraments  of  the  sacerdotal  supplications,  which,  (sacraments, 
or  mysteries)  transmitted  by  the  Apostles,  are  uniformly  cele 
brated  in  the  whole  world  and  in  all  the  Catholic  Church,  that 
so  the  law  of  praying  may  establish  the  law  of  believing." ' 
Ep.  xxi.  ad  Episc.  Galliar.  n.  4,  12,  pp.  333-5,  Gotland,  t.  ix. 

"  We  are  indeed  placed  at  a  distance  from  you,  but  by  our 
solicitude  we  behold  the  whole  close  to  us.  The  watchfulness 
(or  charge)  of  the  blessed  Apostle  Peter  has  all  men  present 
unto  it.  ...  The  stream  of  our  paternal  and  ancient  belief  is 
preserved  pure  by  holy  heirs ;  from  them  it  flows,  free  from 
admixture,  to  their  posterity,  nor  in  that  posterity  has  ever  any 
filth  tainted  it.3  The  faithful  stream  retains  what  it  derived 
from  its  source,  seeing  that  that  is  seen  in  its  course  which  it  re 
ceived  at  its  birth."  — fb.  Ep.  xxii.  n.  6,  ad  Synod.  Ephes.  p.  338. 

ST.  NILUS,  G.  C.— k'  You  ask  me  by  your  letter,  whether  we 
ought  to  believe  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  consubstantial  with 
the  Father  and  the  Son.  So  we  hold,  and  believe,  having 
been  taught  by  the  divine  fathers."— L.  ii.  Epist.  ccx.  p.  229. 

ANDREW  OF  C.ESAREA,  G.  C.4— "  Now  I  think  it  superfluous 
to  treat  at  length  of  the  credibility  and  authority  of  this  book 
(the  Apocalypse).  For  it  is  well  known  that  those  blessed 
men  and  fathers  of  ours,  Gregory  the  Theologian,  Cyril  of 
Alexandria,  and  others  more  ancient  than  they,  as  Papias, 
Irenseus,  Methodius,  and  Hippolytus,  have,  on  more  than  one 
occasion,  declared  it  to  be  divine  and  deserving  of  credit,  and 
we  have,  on  account  of  what  is  contained  in  their  works,  come 

1  Prater  has  .  .  .  apostolicae  sedis  inviolabiles  sanctiones. 

2  Obsecrationura  quoque  sacerdotalium  sacramenta  respiciamus,  qu®  ab 
apostolis  tradita   .    .    .    uniformiter  celebrantur,    ut   legein   credendi,    lex 
statuat  supplicandi. 

3  Pura  ab  hseredibus  sanctis  paternse  et  avitae  credulitatis  vena  servatur: 
fluit  ab  illis  incorrupta  per  posteros,  nee  hanc  in  his  aliquis  unquam  liraus 
infecit.     Credulitas—m  Mai's  sixth  volume  of  Nov.  Collect.  Vet.  Script,  p. 
324,  note  1,  \re  have:  "  Credulitatem  pro  fide  finna  dicit  Nicetas  etiam  in 
symboli  explanatione."    He  also  refers  to  Salvian  (De  Gubern.  1.  ill  2)  and 
to  Paulinus. 

4  He  succeeded  St.  Basil.     The  edition  used  is  that  given  in  the  Bibl. 
Max.  SS.  PP.  t.  v. 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  437 

to  the  same  conclusion."  ' — Comm.  in  Apoc.  Procem.  p.  590, 
col.  2,  Bib.  Max.  PP.  t.  v. 

ST.  CYKIL  OF  ALEXANDRIA,  G.  C.—"  The  book  of  the  Apo 
calypse  which  John  the  wise  wrote,  and  which  has  been 
honored  by  the  approval  of  the  fathers."2—!7.  1,  I.  v.  De 
Ador.  in  Sp.  et  Ver.  p.  188. 

"  I  am  filled  with  wonder  that  certain  persons  doubt  whether 
the  blessed  Virgin  ought  to  be  called  mother  of  God,  or 
not.  .  .  .  This  faith  the  divine  disciples  have  handed  down  to 
us,  although  they  may  not  indeed  make  mention  of  the  word 
(SeoroKot) :  so  to  think  have  we  been  taught  by  the  holy 
fathers."— T7.  v.  P.  2,  Epist.  i.  ad  Monachos,  p.  3. 

"  But  as  it  is  likely  that  some  may  needs  think  that  this 
discourse  of  ours  ought  to  be  confirmed  from  the  sacred  and 
inspired  Scripture  itself,  and  in  addition  to  this  may  say,  that 
that  holy  and  great  synod  (Nicsea),  neither  called  the  mother 
of  our  Lord  the  mother  of  God,  nor  determined  anything 
whatever  of  the  kind ;  come,  and  to  the  best  of  our  ability, 
let  us  show  plainly  how  the  mystery  of  that  dispensation 
which  was  devised  in  Christ,  has  been  taught  us  by  the  divine 
Scripture,  and  also  what  the  fathers  have  themselves  declared, 
displaying  the  land-mark  of  the  genuine  faith,3  the  Holy  Ghost 
infusing  into  them  the  truth,  For  it  was  not  they  that  spake, 
as  the  Saviour  declares,  but  the  Spirit  of  God  and  the  Father 
that  spake  in  them" — Ibid.  pp.  4,  5. 

"  Now  if  the  multitude  of  those  offended  be  so  great,  ought 
we  not  to  bring  into  use  all  our  skill  to  this  duty  of  removing 
the  scandals,  and  set  forth  the  sound  word  (or,  sense)  of  the 
faith  before  those  who  seek  for  the  truth ;  and  this  will  be 
done  very  rightly,  if,  having  met  with  the  writings  of  the  holy 
fathers,  we  are  careful  to  make  much  of  them  ;  and  judging 
of  ourselves  whether  we  are  in  the  faith,  according  to  what  is 
written  (by  them),  we  very  exactly  conform  our  sentiments 

1  E  quorum  monumentis  occasione  sumpta,  nos  ad  hoc  consiliura  venimus. 
1  Tal<»  T(Sv  itarepoov  rsri/uijrat 
3  Tor  TTS  diicotiTfTov  Ttidre&S  opor 


438  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

to  their  correct  and  irreprehensible  sentiments."  '     [He  then 
quotes  the  Nicene  Creed.]  —  T.  v.  P.  2,  Ep.  iv.  Nestorio,  p.  22. 

"  As  soon  as  he  (Nestorius)  had  been  ordained  ...  he  set 
himself  eagerly  to  promulgate  certain  novel  and  unreasonable 
things,  and  which  are  far  removed  from  that  apostolic  and 
evangelic  faith,  which  our  fathers  ever  preserved  and  handed 
down  to  us3  as  a  pearl  of  great  price."  —  11.  Ep.  ix.  ad 
Cwlestin.  pp.  36-7. 

"  And  in  order  that  your  holiness  may  know  clearly  what 
are  the  things  which  he  says,  and  what  our  blessed  and  great 
fathers  (have  said),  I  have  sent  certain  volumes  containing 
portions  of  chapters  which  I  have  caused  to  be  translated  into 
Latin,  as  far  as  this  could  be  done  by  those  in  Alexandria.  "- 
11.  p.  39.  See  also  ibid,  ad  Acacium,  p.  44.  Also  ib.  p.  64,  E. 

"  To  hold  these  sentiments  have  we  been  taught  by  the  holy 
Apostles  and  evangelists,  and  the  whole  of  the  inspired  Scrip 
ture,  and  by  the  true  agreement  (confession)  of  the  blessed 
fathers."  3  —  Ib.  Ep.  Synod,  p.  75.  See  also  Ib.  Ep.  ad  Joan. 
Ant.  Ep.  p.  105,  E. 

"  But  continue  thou,  as  St.  Paul  says,  in  those  things  which 
thou  hast  learned;  avoiding  foolish  logomachies,  and  repu 
diating  the  old-wives'  wrords  of  heretics,  and  rejecting  idle 
fables,  hold  fast  the  faith  in  simplicity  of  mind  ;  establishing 
the  tradition  of  the  Church  as  a  foundation,  in  the  inmost 
recesses  of  thy  heart,4  hold  the  doctrines  which  are  well-pleas 
ing  unto  God."  —  T.  v.  p.  2,  Horn.  viii.  de  Fest.  Paschal,  p.  94. 

"  Upon  reading  these  your  sacred  declarations,  and  h'nding 


1  E6TO.I  8k  TOVTO  Hal  ndXo.   opOoSs,  Et  rots  roar   dyioav 
y  Ttspl  TtoXXov  re  avrovS  itotEi&Jai 

nal  doHiiid^ovreS  favrovS,  Et  k6n$.v   kv  rq  ititiTEt,  Hard  TO 

nai  dvEitiXr^itToi^  d6£aiS,  r«5  kv 


9  Hv  n&xpi  itavToS  T£TtjpifHa6tv  oi  narepet,  TtapEdotidv  re 

3  Kal  rr)<=>  r&v  nanapicov  Ttarspoov  dXrfjovS  unoXoyiaS. 

4  TrjS  kKKXyGiac,  rfjv  itapddcxSiv  xaQdnep  n  HEmrfhtov  iv  roi$  rrjS 
Hapdia.<3  ranieiotS  evriOel's.     In  the  same  homily  (p.  102)  he  speaks  thus 
of  St.  Athanasius:  "As  our  father  and  bishop,  the  renowned  Athanasius, 
that  rule  unswerving  (or,  from  which  we  deviate  not)  of  the  orthodox  faith 
(6  Tr)S  opQodoqov  nidrs&S  KO.VGOV  ddidtirpotpoS)  says  in  his  writings." 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  439 

that  we  agree  with  you  in  sentiments,  for  there  is  one  Lord, 
one  faith,  one  baptism,  —  we  gave  glory  to  God  the  universal 
Saviour,  congratulating  with  each  other,  that  both  our  churches 
and  yours  have  a  faith  that  corresponds  with  the  divine  Scrip 
tures,  and  with  the  tradition  of  our  holy  fathers."  l—Ibid.  p.  106. 
See  also  the  extract  given  from  Ib.  p.  108,  under  "  Councils" 

"  Our  sentiments,  therefore,  concerning  our  Lord's  incarna 
tion,  are  those  which  were  entertained  by  the  holy  fathers  be 
fore  us  :  for  when  reading  their  works  we  so  regulate  our 
mind  that  it  follow  in  their  traces,  and  bring  nothing  new 
to  the  orthodox  doctrines."  —  Ib.  ad  Successum  Ep.  Diceces. 
Isaur.  p.  135.  See  also  Ibid.  p.  140,  E. 

"  Those  things  are  orthodox  and  irreprehensible  which  agree 
both  with  the  divine  writings  and  with  the  faith  which  has 
been  set  down  by  our  holy  fathers."  2  —  Ibid,  ad  Theognos.  et 
olios,  p.  153  in  fine.  See  a  similar  passage,  Ibid.  Ep.  in  S. 
Symb.  ver.  fin.  p.  191.  Also  T.  vi.  L.  ii.  Adv.  Nest.  p.  33, 
E.  And  the  extract  given  under  "  Authority"  from  T.  v. 
P.  ii.  Apol.  Adv.  Arian.  Anath.  viii. 

THEODOTUS  OF  ANCYRA,  G.  C.—  See  the  extract  given,  from 
Eph.  Symb.  under  "  Authority" 

THEODORET,  G.  C.—  See  extract  given,  from  T.  ii.  Proleg. 
im,  Cant.  Cantic.  under  "  Private  Judgment" 

"  Therefore,  brethren,  stand  fast,  and  hold  the  traditions 
which  you  have  learned,  &c.  (2  Thess.  ii.  15).  Have  as  the 
rule  of  doctrine  the  words  which  we  have  delivered  unto 
you,  which  both  when  present  we  have  preached,  and  when 
absent  we  have  written  to  you."  —  T.  iii.  Interpr.  in  Ep.  ii. 
cap.  ii.  Thess.  p.  537. 

In  the  dialogue  between  Orthodoxus  and  Eranistes,  the  fol 
lowing  principles  are  mutually  acceded  to  :  "  Orthodox.—  Ii 
were  to  be  desired  that  we  agreed  with  each  other,  and  pre- 

1  Tail  QeoTtvevtiToiS  ypatpait,  nat  ry  napadotfst  TGOV  dyioov 
rtarepoov,  6vufiaivov6av  s'xovtft 


2  "OpBd  yap  e<5n  nai  ddidfiXrjra,  nal  raiS  QetaiS  Gvufiaivovra  ypa- 
<paiS,  nal  ry  Tti6rei  rff  kHTEBei6p  itapd  TGOV  dyiaov  YIH&V  Ttarspcov. 


440  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

served  the  apostolic  teaching  in  its  purity  ;  but  as  you  have,  I 
know  not  why,  dissolved  that  unanimity,  and  now  propose  to  us 
new  dogmas,  let  us,  without  any  contentiousness,  if  you  please, 
mutually  seek  the  truth.     Eranistes.—We  have  no  need  of 
inquiry ;   for   we  accurately  hold   the   truth.     Orth.— Every 
heretic  thinks  so  ;  yea,  the  very  Jews  and  Gentiles  fancy  that 
they  are  defending  true  doctrines.  ...  It  behooves  us,  there 
fore,  not  to  be  enslaved  to  any  pre-conceived  opinion,  but  to 
seek  for  the  true  doctrine.     Er.—l  yield  to  your  admonition. 
Orth.— As  you  have  readily  accepted  my  first  advice,  1  further 
beg  of  you  not  to  turn  the  inquiry  upon  human  reasonings, 
but  to  seek  for  the  footsteps  of  the  Apostles,  and  prophets, 
and  of  the  holy  men  who  have  come  after  them.1     For  this  is 
the  plan  familiar  to  travellers  when  they  have  deviated  from 
the  king's  highway  ;— they  carefully  examine  the  paths  to  see 
whether  there  be  any  traces  of  the  footprints  of  persons  com 
ing  or  returning.  .  .  .  And  having  found  such  they  follow 
them  up,  as  dogs  do,  and  never  leave  them  until  they  recover 
the  right  road.     Er.-So  let  us  do.  ...   Orth.— Well,  as  we 
have  agreed  that  this  must  be  done,  tell  me,  my  friend,  are 
we  to  acknowledge  the  one  substance  of  God,  Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Ghost,  as  we  have  been  taught  by  the  divine  Scripture,  both 
old  and  new,  and  by  the  fathers  who  assembled  at  Nicaea?  .  .  . 
Following  the  decisions  of  the  holy  fathers,  we  hold  that  hypos- 
tasis  and  person  are  synonymous.     [At  the  close  of  each  of  his 
celebrated  three  dialogues,  after  his  citations  from   Scripture, 
he  confirms  his  interpretation  of  those  texts  by  copious  ex 
tracts  from  the  fathers.]— See  Dial.  i.  from  pp.  43-70 ;  Dial. 
ii.  pp.  127-170 ;  Dial.  iii.  pp.  231-262. 

The  following  are  his  remarks,  appended  to  those  extracts : 
«  Orth.— These  men  were  the  successors  of  the  divine  Apos 
tles  :  while  some  of  them  heard  their  sacred  voice,  and  enjoyed 
their  admirable  acquaintance  (sight)  ;  and  most  of  them  were 
adorned  with  the  martyr's  crown.  Does  it  then  seem  to  thee 
the  act  of  a  holy  man  to  move  his  tongue  in  reprehension 

1  Kai  TGOV  yu«r'  kueivov  dyi<*>v 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  441 

(blasphemy)  against  such  men  ?  l  Er.  —  I  dread  to  do  this."- 
Dial.  i.  p.  69.  See  also  p.  70.  "  Orth.  —  To  oppose  such 
witnesses  is  the  last  degree  of  madness."  2  He  repeats  the 
same  at^?.  72,  Dial.  ii.  And  again,  Dial.  ii.  p.  170,  he  uses 
the  same  words,  after  having  cited  the  fathers  in  support  of 
his  second  position.  See  also  Dial.  iii.  p.  175,  in  princ. 
After  citing  the  fathers  as  in  the  preceding  dialogue,  at  the 
close  of  the  third  and  last,  Orthodox  says  :  "  Imitate,  my 
friends,  the  bees,  arid  fluttering  in  mind  both  over  the  mea 
dows  of  the  divine  Scripture,  and  the  fairest  flowers  of  the 
fathers  celebrated  of  all  men,  form.  I  pray  thee,  in  thyself,  the 
honeycombs  of  the  faith."  3  —  11).  pp.  262-3. 

"  His  (Nestorius)  first  attempt  at  innovation  was,  that  the 
holy  Virgin,  who  bore  the  Word  of  God,  who  took  flesh  of 
her,  ought  not  to  be  confessed  to  be  the  mother  of  God,  but 
only  the  mother  of  Christ  ;  though  of  old,  yea  from  the  first, 
the  preachers  of  the  orthodox  faith  taught,  agreeably  to  the 
apostolic  tradition,4  that  the  mother  of  the  Lord  is  to  be  de 
nominated,  and  believed  to  be,  the  mother  of  God.  And  now 
let  me  produce  his  blasphemous  artifice  and  observation  un 
known  to  any  one  before  him."  —  T.  iv.  Lib.  TIceret.  Fdbul.  c. 
xii.  p.  371.  He  repeats  the  same,  t.  iv.  Lib.  Contr.  Nestor. 
p.  1044  ;  and  speaks  of  Nestorius  as  "  repudiating  the  words 
of  the  holy  fathers  who,  from  the  time  that  the  Gospel  was 
preached,  presided  over  (or  led)  the  faith  of  the  orthodox." 
—Ib.  1.  c. 

"  And  the  crowning  point  of  unity  is  the  harmony  of  faith  ; 
that  no  spurious  doctrine  has  been  received  by  you,  but  that 
you  preserve  that  old  and  apostolic  teaching,  which  a  vene 
rable  and  gray-headed  antiquity  has  brought  down  to  you, 
which  the  labors  (the  sweat)  of  virtue  have  nourished."  —  T.  iv. 

1  EvxyeS  <5oi  doxsi   KOCL   Hard    TOVTGOV    TTJV 


2  To  yap  ro(5ovToi$  /udprvtfi  OLVTITEIVEIV  TfapanXrf^id's 
zr>T<prjvov  rjixiv  kv  tfavrca  rd  nrjpia  TYI<-> 
4  Kara  rrjv  a.Tto6ro\iHrjv  napadoGiv. 


442  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

Epiat.  Ixxv.  Cleric  is  Beroens.     See  other  extracts  under  "77*? 
Church  the  Hxpounder  of  Scripture" 

Having  quoted  several  of  the  fathers  on  a  point  of  doctrine, 
he  says :  "  But  the  day  would  fail  me  while  enumerating 
(those  who  maintain  the  same  doctrine),  Polycarp,  and  Irenaeus, 
and  Methodius,  and  Ilippolytus,  and  the  other  teachers  of  the 
Church :  we  therefore  in  a  word  say,  that  we  follow  the  di- 
yine  oracles,  and  all  those  holy  men.1  For  by  the  grace  of  the 
Spirit  they  penetrated  into  the  depths  of  the  inspired  writing, 
and  themselves  understood  its  meaning,  and  made  that  mean 
ing  plain  to  those  that  wish  to  learn." — Quod  post  Ilumanit. 
Christus  sit  unions  Fillus  et  Dom.  &c.— Inter.  Ep.  t.  iv.  p. 
1313  in  fine.  See  also  Ep.  Theod.  et  Alior.  Ru/o,  II. p.  1347. 

"  We  have  had  handed  down  to  us,  and  have  been  taught, 
and  we  hold  this  Catholic  and  apostolic  tradition  and  faith  and 
confession,  that  one  is  the  hypostasis— this  the  heretics  them 
selves  denominate  substance — of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."— Hist.  Eccles.  I.  ii.  c.  viii.  p.  81 ; 
Vales.  Cantab.  1720.  (Ex.  Ep.  Synod.  Condi.  Sardic.} 

CAPREOLUS  OF  CARTHAGE,  L.  C.— See  "Authority." 

CASSIAN,  L.  C. — Having  quoted  several  of  the  fathers  in 
opposition  to  the  errors  of  Kestorius,  he  concludes  thus  :  "  Art 
thou  then  the  reformer  of  the  early  prelates  ? 3  dost  thou  con 
demn  the  ancient  priests  ?  art  thou  more  excellent  than  Gre 
gory  ?  more  to  be  followed  than  Nectarius ;  to  be  preferred 
before  John,  and  all  the  priests  of  the  eastern  churches — priests 
who,  though  they  have  not  the  same  reputation  as  those  whom 
I  have  named,  are  of  the  same  faith  ?  And  this,  as  far  as  re 
gards  this  matter,  is  sufficient ;  because,  when  it  is  a  question 
about  faith,  all  men  are  the  same  as  the  greatest,  in  that  they 
are  united  in  fellowship  with  the  greatest." — L.  vii.  De  Incarn. 
p.  102 ;  t.  vii.  Bibl.  Maxim.  SS.  PP. 

ST.  XYSTUS  III.,  POPE,  L.  C.— See  "  Unity." 

1  'HuslS  roiS  0«z'oiS  XoyioiS  anoXov^ovnev  xai  rovrotS  aitatii  rolt 
8  Tu  ergo  emendator  priorum  antistituiu. 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  443 

VINCENTIUS  OF  L.ERINS,  L.  C. — For  numerous  passages  on  tra 
dition,  and  for  the  context  of  the  following  example,  see  "  Au 
thority  of  the  Church"  "  These  men  exhibited  beforehand  to 
future  ages  in  what  way  .  .  .  the  audacity  of  profane  novelty 
may  be  repressed  by  the  authority  of  sacred  antiquity.  Neither 
is  this  anything  new ;  seeing  that  this  custom  has  ever  prevailed 
in  the  Church,  that  the  more  religious  a  man  was,  the  more 
promptly  did  he  withstand  novel  inventions.  Such  examples 
are  everywhere  plentiful.  But  not  to  be  prolix,  we  will  select 
some  one,  and  this  in  preference  from  the  apostolic  see,  that 
all  men  may  see  more  plainly  than  the  sun's  light,  with  what 
force,  what  zeal,  what  endeavor,  the  blessed  succession  of  the 
blessed  Apostles  ever  defended  the  integrity  of  religion  once 
received.  In  days  past,  therefore,  Agrippinus  of  blessed 
memory,  bishop  of  Carthage,  the  first  of  all  mortal  men, 
against  the  divine  Scripture  (canon),  against  the  rule  of  the 
universal  Church,  against  the  sense  of  all  his  fellow-priests, 
against  the  custom  and  institutes  of  our  forefathers,  held  that 
baptism  ought  to  be  repeated.  .  .  .  When  therefore  on  every 
side  men  reclaimed  against  the  novelty  of  the  thing,  and  all 
the  priests,  in  every  direction,  each  according  to  his  zeal,  did 
oppose ;  then  Pope  Stephen  of  blessed  memory,  prelate  of  the 
apostolic  see,  resisted,  with  the  rest  of  his  colleagues,  indeed, 
but  still  beyond  the  rest ;  thinking  it,  I  suppose,  becoming, 
that  he  should  excel  all  the  rest  as  much  in  devotion  for  the 
faith,  as  he  surpassed  them  in  authority  of  place.1  In  fine,  in 
an  epistle  which  was  then  sent  to  Africa,  he  gave  a  decree  in 
these  words,  <  Nothing  is  to  be  innovated,  (nothing)  but  what 
has  been  handed  down.' a  For  the  holy  and  prudent  man  was 
aware  that  the  nature  of  piety  admits  nothing  else,  but  that 
all  things  be  consigned  to  the  children,  with  the  same  fidelity 
with  which  they  have  been  received  from  the  fathers ; 3  and 

1  Quantum  loci  auctoritate  superabat. 

2  Nihil  innovandum.  nisi  quod  traditum  est. 

3  Nihil  aliud  rationem  pietatis  admittere,  nisi  ut  omnia,  quse  fide  a  pa- 
tribus  suscepta  forent,  eadem  fide  filiis  consignarentur. 


444  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

that  we  ought  rather  to  follow  religion  whithersoever  it  may 
lead,  not  lead  religion  whither  it  may  please  us :  and  that  this 
is  the  characteristic  of  Christian  modesty  and  gravity,  not  to 
transmit  to  posterity  of  our  own,  but  to  preserve  the  things  re 
ceived  from  our  ancestors.'  What  therefore  was  the  result  of 
that  whole  business  ?  What  indeed  but  the  usual  and  accus 
tomed  one  ?  Antiquity  to  wit  was  retained,  novelty  exploded. 
But  perhaps  that  invention  of  novelty  was  deficient  in  patrons. 
Nay,  but  it  had  such  force  of  talent,  such  flow  of  eloquence, 
such  number  of  defenders,  such  show  of  truth,  such  testimonies 
of  the  divine  law, — but  evidently  understood  in  a  new  and  evil 
manner — that  to  me  all  this  conspiracy  seems  utterly  incapable 
of  being  overthrown,  had  not  that  sole  cause  of  so  great  a  tur 
moil,  the  very  profession  itself  of  novelty,  taken  in  hand,  de 
fended,  praised,  left  it  without  support." — Adv.  Ilceres.  n.  6. 

The  context  of  the  following  will  be  found  under  "  The 
Church  the  Expounder  of  Scripture"  "  Whom  (the  fathers) 
we  are  to  believe  in  this  binding  manner,  that  whatsoever 
either  all,  or  the  greater  part,  with  (or,  in)  one  and  the  same 
mind  (or  sense),  plainly,  frequently,  unswervingly,  as  in  a  kind 
of  council  of  teachers  agreeing  together,  have  confirmed  by  re 
ceiving,  holding,  and  delivering  it,  let  that  be  held  as  a  thing 
undoubted,  certain,  and  settled.8  But  whatsoever  sentiment, 
any,  although  he  be  holy  and  learned,  although  a  bishop, 
although  a  confessor  and  martyr,  may  have  entertained  beside 
all,  or  even  contrary  to  all,  let  that  be  separated  from  the 
authority  of  the  common,  public,  and  general  sentiment,  and 
placed  amongst  his  own  proper,  and  secret,  and  private  slight 
opinions ;  lest,  with  the  utmost  peril  of  eternal  salvation,  we 
do,  according  to  the  sacrilegious  custom  of  heretics  and  schis 
matics,  having  forsaken  the  ancient  truth  of  universal  doctrine, 
follow  the  novelty  of  some  one  man.  The  holy  and  Catholic 
consent  of  which  blessed  fathers,  lest  any  one  think  that  he 

1  Idque  esse  proprium  Christiana?  raodestiae  et  gravitatis,  non  sua  posteris 
tradere,  sed  a  majoribus  accepta  servare. 

2  Id  pro  indubitato,  certo,  ratoque  habeatur. 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  445 

may  rashly  contemn,  the  Apostle  says,  in  his  first  epistle  to  the 
Corinthians,  And  God  indeed  hath  set  some  in  the  Church,  first 
Apostles,  of  which  himself  was  one;  secondly,  prophets,  as 
Agabus,  of  whom  we  read  in  the  Acts ;  thirdly,  doctors,  who 
are  now  called  expounders  (tractatores),  whom  this  same 
Apostle  sometimes  also  nameth  prophets,  for  that  by  them  the 
mysteries  of  the  prophets  are  laid  open  to  the  people.  These 
men,  therefore,  disposed  of  God,  throughout  times  and  places, 
in  the  Church  of  God,  whosoever  despiseth  them  when  they 
concur  in  any  one  sentiment  touching  the  understanding  of 
Catholic  doctrine,  despises  not  man,  but  God  / *  from  the  truth- 
teaching  unity  of  which  men  that  none  dissent,  the  same 
Apostle  very  earnestly  entreats,  saying,  But  1  beseech  you, 
brethren,  that  you  all  speak  the  same  thing,  and  that  there  be 
no  schisms  among  you  /  but  be  you  perfect,  in  the  same  mind, 
and  in  the  same  judgment  (1  Cor.  i.)  "  [For  continuation,  see 
"  Unity"] — Adv.  Hceres.  n.  xxviii. 

ST.  LEO  I.,  POPE,  L.  C. — "  It  is  not  to  be  doubted  that  every 
Christian  observance  is  taught  of  God,  and  that  whatsoever 
has  been  received  by  the  Church  as  a  customary  devotion  is 
derived  from  apostolic  tradition,  and  from  the  teaching  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  who  now  also  presides  over  the  hearts  of  the  faith 
ful  by  His  owTn  appointments,2  that  so  all  men  may  both  obedi 
ently  observe  and  wisely  understand  them." — T.  i.  Serm.  Ixxix. 
(De  Jejun.  Pent,  ii.)  c.  i.  pp.  316-7. 

"  That  man  perishes  by  his  own  obstinacy,  and  by  his  own 
madness  withdraws  from  Christ,  who  follows  that  impiety  by 
which  he  knows  that  many  before  him  have  perished ;  and  who 
thinks  that  is  for  him  religious  and  Catholic,  which,  by  the 
judgment  of  the  holy  fathers,3  it  is  well  known  has  been  con- 

1  Quisquis  in  sensu  catholic!  dogmatis  unum  aliquod  in  Christo  sentientes 
contempserit.  non  hominem  contemnit,  sed  Deum. 

2  Dubitandum   non   est   omnem  observantiara   Christianam   eruditionis 
esse  divinae,  et  quicquid  ab  ecclesia  in  consuetudinem  est  devotionis  recep- 
tum,  de  traditione  apostolica  et  de  sancti  Spiritus  prodire  doctrina,   qui 
nunc  quoque  cordibus  fidelium  suis  praesidet  institutis. 

3  Sanctorum  patrum  judicio. 


446  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

demned,  both  in  the  perfidy  of  Photinus,  and  in  the  folly  of 
Manichaeus,  and  in  the  madness  of  Apollinaris." — 11.  Serm. 
xcvi.  Tr.  i.  Contr.  Eutych.  c.  2,  p.  373. 

"This  Eutyches  ought  not  to  have  deviated  from  Catholic 
tradition,  but  to  have  abided  in  that  same  belief  which  is  held 
by  all  men."  l—Ib.  Ep.  xxvii.  ad  f "lav.  Ep.  Cp.p.  792. 

"  But  lest  any  sinister  suspicion  concerning  our  disposition 
may  trouble  him  (Anatolius),  I  remove  all  cause  of  difficulty, 
nor  do  I  ask  for  anything  which  can  either  seem  difficult,  or 
doubtful,  but  I  invite  him  to  what  no  Catholic  may  refuse.3 
For  known  and  manifest  throughout  the  whole  world  are  those 
who,  whether  in  the  Greek  or  in  the  Latin  language,  have 
shone  in  the  preaching  of  Catholic  truth  ...  out  of  whose 
writings  a  similar  and  varied  instruction  is  drawn,  which  as  it 
destroyed  the  Nestorian  heresy,  so  also  did  it  cut  up  this  error, 
which  now  shoots  forth  again.  .  .  .  But  as  both  we,  and  our  bless 
ed  fathers,  whose  doctrine  we  both  venerate  and  follow,3  are  in 
the  concord  of  one  faith,  as  the  bishops  of  all  the  provinces 
protest,  let  the  most  religious  faith  of  your  clemency  cause, 
that  a  written  declaration  from  the  bishop  of  Constantinople, 
such  as  beseems  an  approved  Catholic  priest,  reach  us,  clearly 
to  wit  declaring  that,  if  any  one,  in  the  matter  of  the  Incarna 
tion  of  the  Word  of  God,  either  believe  or  assert  anything 
different  from  what  my  profession,  and  that  of  all  Catholics, 
proclaims,  him  does  he  separate  from  his  communion  ;  that 
thus  we  may  show  him  (Anatolius)  brotherly  love  in  Christ.  .  .  . 
But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  there  be  some  who  dissent  from  the 
purity  of  our  faith,  and  from  the  authority  of  the  fathers,*  let 
your  clemency  allow  a  general  council  within  Italy." — Ep.  cxix. 
ad  Theodos.  Aug.  c.  1-2, pp.  1006-8.  See  also  the  next  epistle 
ad  Pulcheriam  August. p.  1010. 

"  It  is  not  lawful  to  differ,  not  even  by  one  word,  from  the 

1  Quern  a  traditione  catholica  non  decuerat  deviare;  sed  in  eadem 
tenetur  ab  omnibus  credulitate  persistere. 

2  Ad  id  quod  nullus  Catholicorum  refutet,  invito. 

3  Beati  patres  nostri,  quorum  doctrinam  et  veneramur  et  sequimur. 
*  A  puritate  nostrae  fidei,  atque  pat  rum  auctoritate  dissentiunt. 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  447 

evangelic  and  apostolic  doctrine,"  &c.,  as  given  under  "  Au 
thority"  from  Ep.  Ixxxii.  ad  Marcian.  Aug.  c.  i.  p.  1044. 
See  also,  under  the  same  head,  an  extract  from  Ep.  Ixxxix. 
ad  eumd.  Marc.  p.  1061,  and  the  extracts  from  Ep.  xc.  and 
Ep.  xciv. 

"  Laudably  will  you  embrace  that  doctrine  which  has  flowed 
unto  us  from  the  blessed  Apostles  and  the  holy  fathers.  .  .  . 
Your  diligence  ought  to  exhort  unto  the  benefit  of  faith  both 
people  and  clergy,  and  the  whole  brotherhood,  in  such  wise  as 
that  you  demonstrate  that  you  teach  nothing  new,  but  that 
you  implant  in  the  breasts  of  all,  those  things  which  the 
fathers  of  venerable  memory,  with  a  uniform  preaching 
taught,1  with  whom  our  epistle  in  all  things  agrees.  And  this 
is  to  be  shown  not  merely  by  your  own  declarations,  but  also 
by  actually  reading  to  them  the  foregoing  passages ;  that  the 
people  of  God  may  know,  that  those  things  are  taught  them 
in  our  present  instructions,  which  the  fathers  both  received 
from  their  predecessors,  and  delivered  to  their  successors. 
Whence,  having  first  read  the  declarations  of  the  afore-named 
priests,  then  afterwards  let  my  writings  be  read  unto  them, 
that  the  ears  of  the  faithful  may  have  proof  that  we  preach  no 
other  than  what  we  have  received  from  our  forefathers.2  In 
all  things,  therefore,  both  in  the  rule  of  faith  and  in  the  ob 
servance  of  discipline,  let  the  pattern  of  antiquity  be  observ 
ed."  3—  T.  i.  Ep.  cxxix.  ad  Proter.  Ep.  Alex.  pp.  1254-5. 

Of  the  above  instructions  given  to  the  bishop  of  Alexandria, 
he  says  :  "  And  for  fear  lest  the  above-named  prelate  may  seem 
to  introduce  novelties  and  to  establish  his  own  opinions,  let 
the  writings  of  the  venerable  fathers  who  have  presided  over 
that  same  church  (of  Alexandria)  be  read  ;  and  let  the  people 

1  Quae  venerandae  memoriae  patres  consona  praedicatione  docuerunt. 

2  Non  aliud  nos  quam  quod  a  majoribus  accepimus  praedicare. 

3  Per  omnia  igitur  et  in  fidei  regula,  et  in  observantia  disciplinae,  vetus- 
tatis  norma  servetur.     From  the  letters  addressed  to  St.  Leo,  the  following 
is  from  Flavian,  bishop  of  Constantinople  :   "We  have  learnt  from  the  di 
vine  Scriptures  to  despise  foolish  questions  and  to  follow  the  Fathers  (roi$ 
Ttarpatiiv  a.Ko\(yv§£iv\  and  not  to  transgress  the  everlasting  land-marks 
(boundaries)." — Ep.  xxii.  c.  i.  p.  752. 


448  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS. 

be  made  acquainted  with  what  blessed  Athanasius,  what  Theo 
philus,  what  Cyril,  what  also  other  Oriental  teachers  have 
thought  concerning  the  Incarnation  of  the  Lord." — Ib.  Ep. 
cxxx.  ad  Marcian.  Aug.  c.  2,  p.  1257.  See  also  Ep.  clx.  ad 
Neon.  Ep.  Raven,  c.  i.  p.  1405. 

SOCRATES,  G.  C.— "  Eusebius,  upon  arriving  at  Alexandria, 
speedily  with  Athanasius,  summoned  a  synod.  .  .  .  For  they 
did  not  introduce  into  the  Church  some  novel  religious  belief 
of  their  own  invention,  but  what,  from  the  first,  both  the  ec 
clesiastical  tradition  had  taught,  and  by  the  learned  amongst 
Christians  had  been  demonstratively  unfolded.  For,  in  this  wise, 
did  all  the  more  ancient,  who  had  expressed  themselves  on 
this  subject,  leave  it  stated  for  us  in  their  writings."—//.  E. 
I.  iii.  c.  vii.  p.  178.  See  the  remarkable  extract  given  under 
"Authority?  from  11.  1.  v.  c.  x. 

ARNOMUS  JUNIOR,  L.  C.— Serapion,  (the  heretic)  said  :  "  I 
confess  that  I  hold  his  (St.  Augustine's)  statements  as  so  as 
sured,  that  the  man  who  should  think  any  declaration  of  his 
deserving  of  reprehension,  would,  out  of  his  own  mouth,  prove 
himself  to  be  a  heretic."  Arnobius  replied  :  "  You  have  ex 
pressed  my  sentiment,  for  what  I  now  produce  from  him  I  so 
believe,  and  hold,  and  defend,  as  though  it  were  the  most 
sacred  writings  of  the  Apostles."— Conflict.  Arnob.  et  Scrap, 
p.  233,  t.  viii.  Bill.  Maxim.  SS.  PP. 

ST.  GELASIUS  I.,  POPE,  L.  C.— "  If  then  you  adhere  to  the 
ancient  faith,  and  which  has  been  transmitted  to  us  by  the 
holy  fathers  ;  if  your  sentiments,  like  ours,  correspond  with 
those  which  they  entertained  concerning  the  Incarnation  of 
the  Lord  our  Saviour,  and  if  you  in  nothing  deviate  from  the 
doctrine  of  the  universal  Church  (for  neither  are  we  wiser  than 
our  fathers,  nor  is  it  lawful  for  us  to  take  upon  ourselves  some 
novelty  or  other  which  is  other  than  what  our  fathers  learned 
and  taught),  this  faith  let  us  all  mutually  hold  in  sincerity  of 
mind  and  truth  of  heart,  and  there  is  peace.  Let  us  also  keep 
inviolate  the  rules  which  the  Church  has  received  from  those 
same  fathers,  and  there  is  peace.  Let  this  be  a  thing  certain 


APOSTOLICAL  TRADITIONS.  449 

and  fixed,  and  there  is  no  discord." — Supplement.  Acacian.  n. 
13,  pp.  687-8,  t.  x.  Galland.1 

SALONIUS,  L.  C. — "  Remove  not  the  ancient  land-marks  which 
thy  fathers  set  (Prov.  xxiii.)  By  the  ancient  land-marks 
he  means  the  land-marks  of  truth  and  of  faith  which  the 
Catholic  doctors  have  set  from  the  beginning.  This,  there 
fore,  does  he  enjoin,  that  no  one  understand  the  truth  of  sacred 
faith  and  of  evangelic  doctrine  otherwise  than  as  it  has  been 
transmitted  by  the  holy  fathers." — Explan.  Myst.  in  Prov. 
p.  406,  t.  viii.  Bill.  Maxim. 

GELAZIUS  OF  CYZICUS,  G.  C. — "  This  is  the  apostolic  and 
unspotted  faith  of  the  Church,  which  (faith)  delivered  from 
heaven  by  the  Lord  Himself  through  the  Apostles,  the  Church 
reverences  (as)  transmitted  from  father  to  son,  and  retains  it 
now  and  for  evermore,  the  Lord  saying  to  His  disciples,  Going 
teach  all  nations.  ...  It  has  seemed  good  to  us  all  together 
that  the  word  '  consubstantial '  ought  to  be  defined  in  the 
Catholic  faith,  in  the  same  way  as  our  holy  fathers,  who  have 
lived  since  the  Apostles,  have  delivered  this  faith." — Hist. 
Condi.  N'icoen.  I.  ii.  c.  xxiii.  xxiv.  col.  224,  t.  ii.  Lcbbb. 

Not  only  then,  agreeably  to  these  various  opinions,  so  fully 
expressed,  has  the  authentic  body  of  our  Scriptures  been  pre 
served  by  tradition  ;  but,  by  the  same  rule,  has  the  expounding 
of  those  Scriptures  been  invariably  directed ;  otherwise,  how 
is  it  that  the  washing  of  feet,  so  expressly  enjoined  by  our 
Saviour,  has  not  been  received  and  observed  as  a  sacramental 
institution  ?  Why  do  we  not  abstain  from  blood  and  from 
things  strangled,  as  the  Apostles  themselves  ordained  ?  In  the 
first  case  (John  c.  xiii.),  having  washed  the  feet  of  His  disci 
ples,  Christ  says  to  them :  If  then  I,  being  your  Lord  and 
Master,  have  washed  your  feet  :  you  ought  also  to  wash  one 
another's  feet.  For  I  have  given  you  an  example,  that  as  I 
have  done  to  you,  so  you  do  also.  The  injunction  is  positive. — 

1  It  has  been  doubted  whether  this  treatise  is  by  Felix  III.  or  by  Gelasius. 
The  editors  (Fratres  Ballerinii)  of  St.  Leo's  works  seem  to  have  proved  it  to 
be  by  the  latter  pontiff. 


450  COUNCILS. 

In  the  second  case  (Acts  xv.),  when  difficulties  were  raised  by 
the  Jews  against  the  Gentile  converts,  in  favor  of  the  law  of 
Moses,  the  Apostles  met  in  council  at  Jerusalem  ;  and  after 
due  deliberation,  came  to  the  following  decision  :  It  hath 
seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  to  us,  to  lay  no  further 
burden  upon  you  than  these  necessary  things;  That  you  abstain 
from  things  sacrificed  to  idols,  and  from  blood,  and  from 
things  strangled.  Here  also  is  the  ordinance  positive.  But 
by  tradition  we  know  that,  in  the  first  case,  no  obligation 
of  compliance  was  ever  imposed  on  the  faithful ;  and  by 
tradition  again  we  know  that,  in  the  second,  the  ordinance 
was  understood  to  be  temporary.  Every  difficulty  is  thus  re 
moved,  and  the  authority  of  apostolical  tradition  clearly  ascer 
tained.  From  the  same  tradition  we  learn  the  lawfulness  of 
infant  baptism  ;  the  validity  of  baptism  given  by  heretics  ;  the 
observation  of  the  Sunday  and  many  other  even  fundamental 
doctrines  and  important  matters  of  practice. 


THE  OFFICE  OF  COUNCILS. 


PROPOSITION    X. 


The  pastors  of  the  Church,  either  dispersed,  or  convened  in 
council,  have  received  no  commission  from  Christ  to  frame 
new  articles  of  faith  ;  but  to  define,  explain,  and  propound 
to  the  faithful,  what  anciently  was,  and  is,  received  and  re 
tained,  as  of  faith  in  the  Church,  when  debates  and  contro 
versies  arise  about  them.  These  definitions,  in  matters 
relating  to  faith  only,  and  propounded  as  such,  oblige  all 
the  faithful  to  a  submission  of  judgment. 

SCRIPTURE. 

See  the  texts  quoted  in  the  section  on  "  Authority. " 


COUNCILS.  451 

FATHERS. 

ST.  JULITJS  L,  POPE,  L.  C.1 — 4i  If,  as  you  (Arians)  write,  every 
council  has  an  authority  not  to  be  shaken,  and  the  judge  is  dis 
honored,  if  his  judgment  be  sifted  by  others,  consider,  my  be 
loved,  who  they  are  that  dishonor  the  council,  and  who  they 
that  rescind  foregone  judgments.  And  lest  I  may  seem,  if 
I  were  now  to  examine  each  individual's  acts,  to  press  heavily 
upon  certain  persons;  even  the  last  of  these  acts — the  very 
hearing  of  which  would  make  one  tremble — is  sufficient  to 
understand  the  rest  which  I  pass  by.  The  Arians,  they  who 
were,  on  account  of  their  irreligion,  cast  forth  by  Alexander 
of  blessed  memory,  the  then  bishop  of  Alexandria,  were  not 
merely  repelled  by  the  inhabitants  of  every  city,  but  were 
also  anathematized  by  all  those  who  assembled  together  in 
the  great  council  of  Nicsea.  For  theirs  was  no  common 
crime ;  neither  did  they  sin  against  man,  but  against  our  very 
Lord  Himself,  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God.  And 
yet  these  men,  repelled  as  they  were  by  the  whole  world,  and 
branded  throughout  the  whole  Church,  are  said  to  have  been 
now  received  ; — a  thing  which,  I  suppose,  even  you,  on  hear 
ing,  will  think  a  fit  matter  for  bitter  grief.  Who  then  are  they 
that  dishonor  a  council  ?  Is  it  not  they  who  set  at  naught  the 
decisions  (votes)  of  three  hundred  (bishops),  and  prefer  irre 
ligion  to  religion  ?  "—Epist.  ad  Eusebian,  n.  3,  p.  4,  t.  v. 
Galland. 

ST.  ATHANASIUS,  G.  C.— "  How  then,  do  not  these  men  act 

1  As  the  extracts  given  in  this  section  are  intruded  to  relate  to  the  gene 
ral  councils  held  during  the  five  first  centuries,  the  notices  of  councils 
which  occur  in  St.  Cyprian,  Firmilian,  Eusebius,  and  others,  are  omitted. 
The  following  extracts,  however,  from  Tertullian,  may  be  cited  to  show  the 
antiquity  of  such  assemblies,  and  that  one  of  their  recognized  offices  was  to 
determine  what  writings  were,  and  what  were  not,  to  be  received  as  genuine 
parts  of  holy  Scripture:  "  Aguntur  praeterea  per  Graecias  ilia  certis  ex  locis 
concilia  ex  universis  ecclesiis,  per  quae  et  altiora  quceque  in  commune  trac- 
tantur,  et  ipsa  reprcesentatio  totius  nominis  Christiani  magna  veneratione 
celebratur."— De  Jejuniis,  n.  13.  Sed  cederem  tibi,  si  scriptura  Pastoris, 
quae  sola  mcechos  amat,  divino  instrumento  meruisset  incidi,  si  non  ab  omni 
concilia  ecclesiarum  etiam  vestrarum,  inter  apocrypha  et  falsa  judicaretur, 
adultera  et  ipsa,"  &c.—  De  Pudwit.  n.  10. 


452  COUNCILS. 

most  unjustly,  even  in  thought  only  to  reclaim  against  so  great 
and  oecumenical  a  synod  ?  *  How,  do  they  not  act  against  all 
right,  to  dare  to  look  with  adverse  eyes  on  decrees  so  laudably 
passed  against  the  Arian  heresy?"  —  T.  1,  Ep.  De  Decret. 
Nicazn.  Syn.  n.  4,  p.  166. 

"  If  their  belief  were  orthodox,  they  would  be  content  with 
the  faith  laid  down  by  the  whole  oecumenical  synod  held  at 
Nicaea  ;  and  if  they  thought  themselves  slandered,  and  without 
cause  denominated  Arians,  they  ought  not  to  exert  themselves 
so,  to  alter  what  was  written  against  Arius;  lest  what  was 
written  against  him,  should  seem  defined  against  them.  .  .  . 
They  who  dare  to  contend  against  what  has  been  well  decreed, 
and  take  upon  themselves  to  make  written  statements  in  oppo 
sition  to  those  decrees,  what  else  do  they  do  but  condemn  the 
fathers,  and  stand  up  for  the  heresy  against  which  they  (the 
fathers)  were,  and  against  which  they  appeared  ?  "•  —  T.  1,  Epist. 
ad  Episc.  ^Egypt.  et  LyU.  n.  5,  p.  217.  See  also  n.  8,  p.  219 
of  the  same  epistle,  given  under  "  Tradition"  where  see  also 
the  extract  from  De  Synodis,  n.  13,  14. 

ST.  PHCEBADIUS,  L.  C.a  —  "  For,  what  cause,  or  reason  is  there 
why  what  has  been  handed  down  to  all  the  churches  to  be 
believed  and  taught,  and  which  the  apostolic  men,  our  fathers, 
purified  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  from  a  Catholic  motive,  set  down, 
—  as  a  kind  of  barrier  in  defence  of  the  truth,  by  which  they 
might  obstruct  every  approach  to  pestilential  doctrine,  —  in 
opposition  to  all  heresies,  and  especially  the  Arian,  should  now 


OVTOI  Hdv  irOv/uov^evoi  novov  dvriheyeiv  rfi  rotiacury 
tiwodcp.  This  principle  is  advanced  in  a  variety  of 
forms  by  St.  Athanasius,  in  his  writings  against  the  Arians.  "If,  the 
devil  having  sowed  this  perverseness  in  these  men,  they  feel  confidence  in 
the  evil  things  which  they  have  invented  for  themselves,  let  them  clear 
themselves  in  those  matters  proved  against  them  as  declared  heretics,  and 
then  it  will  be  their  time  to  find  fault,  if  they  can,  with  the  decrees  passed 
against  them.  For  no  one  that  has  been  convicted  of  murder  or  of  adultery 
is  at  liberty,  after  the  trial,  to  find  fault  with  the  sentence  of  the  judge, 
why  he  spoke  in  this  way  and  not  in  that."  —  Ibid.  n.  2,  p.  165. 

1  A  Gaulish  bishop  who  flourished  about  the  year  357.  He  was  much 
engaged  in  the  Arian  controversy.  The  edition  used  is  that  given  by  Gal- 
landius,  t.  v. 


COUNCILS.  453 

be  the  object  of  no  small  labor  and  striving,  that  it  may  be 
removed,  on  the  part  of  those  who  are  favorable  to  what  has 
condemned  the  Arian  defilement  ?  "  —  Tract,  de  Orthodox.  Fide 
Contr.  Arian.  c.  1,  t.  v.p.  258,  Gallaiid. 

ST.  BASIL,  G.  C.  —  "  I  am  persuaded  that  this  will  not  meet 
with  any  opposition  on  your  parts,  and  that  the  brethren  afore 
said  will  be  perfectly  satisfied  with  this,  that  you  make  open 
profession  of  that  faith  set  down  by  our  fathers  who  assembled 
at  Nicsea,  and  that  you  reject  not  anything  there  declared,  but 
feel  assured  that  the  three  hundred  and  eighteen  who  met  there 
in  harmony,  spoke  not  but  under  the  influence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit."  l—T.  iii.  P.  1,  Ep.  cxiv.  Cyriaco.p.  297. 

ST.  EPIPHANIUS,  G.  C.  —  "  Synods  create  security  on  the  point 
that  falls  under  notice  from  time  to  time."  a  —  Adv.  Hceres. 
(74),  ^>.  904.  For  context,  see  "Authority." 

"  Others  there  are  who  seem  to  act  like  children  ;  daring,  in 
opposition  to  existing  customs,  —  separating  from  the  orthodox, 
and  forming  a  party  to  themselves,  —  even  without  any  deci 
sion  of  an  oecumenical  synod,  to  rebaptize  those  who  come 
unto  them  from  the  Arians  ;  the  matter  not  having  been,  as  I 
have  said,  decided  by  the  decree  of  a  synod."  3  —  Adv.  Hceres. 
Expos.  Fidei,  p.  1095. 

ST.  GREGORY  OF  NYSSA,  G.  C.  —  "  Had  it  indeed  been  more 
suitable  to  use  the  terms  invented  by  Eunomius,"  &c.,  as  given 
under  "  Tradition"  from  T.  ii.  1.  1,  Contr.  Eunom. 

ST.  GREGORY  OF  NAZIANZUM,  G.  C.  —  "  In  the  holy  synod  of 
Nicsea,  and  in  the  number  of  the  select,  whom  the  Holy  Spirit 
had  united  together,4  he  (St.  Athanasius),  as  far  as  in  him  lay, 
stayed  the  distemper  (of  Arianism)."  —  T.  i.  Orat.  xxi.  p.  381. 

"  Seeing  that  many  have  approached  to  your  piety  to  seek 
for  full  assurance  concerning  the  faith,  and  that  you  have 

1  OVH  avev  rffy  TOV  dyiov  itreviiaroS  evepyEiaS  kqfiey^avTo. 

2  IIpo's  yap  TO  -vnoitircTov  kv  Haipca  nal  Kaip&j  at  dvroSot  rrjv 

TCOIOVVTOLI. 
TOV 


*  OvS  TO  itvEvna.  TO  dyiov  Et$  ev 


454  COUNCILS. 

therefore,  from  affection  towards  me,  asked  me  for  a  brief 
statement,  and  rule  of  my  sentiments,  I  have  accordingly  writ 
ten  to  you,  what  in  fact  you  knew  before  my  communication, 
that  I  never  have  preferred,  and  cannot  prefer,  anything  to  the 
creed  of  the  fathers  who  assembled  at  Nicaea,  for  the  over 
throw  of  the  Arian  heresy :  of  that  faith  I  am,  and  shall,  with 
God's  help,  continue  to  be,  adding  in  explanation  what  was 
imperfectly  said  in  that  creed  concerning  the  Holy  Ghost, — 
from  that  question  not  being  then  mooted, — that  we  must  re 
cognize  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost  as  of  one  divine  nature 
(divinity),  acknowledging  the  Spirit  also  as  God.  With  men 
who  thus  hold,  and  teach,  hold  communion,  as  we  do ;  but 
turn  from  those  who  hold  otherwise,  and  account  them  aliens 
botli  from  God  and  the  Catholic  Church."  ' — T.  1,  or.  Hi.  ad 
Cledon.  pp.  745-6. 

ST.  AMBROSE,  L.  C. — "This  was  written  (that  Christ  was 
a  creature)  in  the  synod  of  Ariminum,  and  with  cause  do  I 
abhor  that  council,  following,  as  I  do,  the  declaration  of  the 
council  of  Nicaea,  from  which  neither  death  nor  the  sword 
will  be  able  to  separate  me." — T.  ii.  Ep.  xxi.  Valentiniano, 
n.  14,  p.  862.  See  also  the  extracts,  given  under  "  Tradi 
tion^  from  T.  ii.  1.  iii.  de  Fide,  c.  xv.  n.  128 ;  and  Ep.  xiv. 
Theodosio,  n.  7. 

ST.  DAMASUS,  POPE,  L.  C. — "  When,  in  times  past,  the  poison 
of  the  heretics  began  to  spread  itself,  as  it  now  does  once 
more,  and  when  especially  the  blasphemy  of  the  Arians  first 
sprang  up,  our  forefathers,  the  three  hundred  and  eighteen 
bishops,  and  they  who  were  sent  from  the  city  of  the  most 
holy  bishop  of  Kome  (St.  Sylvester),  assembled  in  council  at 
Nicaea,  and  raised  up  a  wall  against  the  weapons  of  the  devil, 
and  by  this  antidote  repelled  the  cup  of  death.  .  .  .  Your  up 
rightness  perceives  that  that  faith  alone  which  was  settled  at 
Nicaea,  by  the  authority  of  the  Apostles,3  is  to  be  held  fast 
with  unswerving  firmness :  in  this  faith,  with  us,  those  of  the 

1  AXXorpiov 5  rjyov,  nal  rov  Qsov  xal  r?;5  KabohiH 
1  Quae  apud  Nicaeam  apostolorum  auctoritate  fundata  est. 


COUNCILS.  455 

east,  who  acknowledge  themselves  Catholics,  as  well  as  those 
of  the  west,  glory." — Ep.  1,  Synod,  t.  vi.  p.  321,  Gotland. 

"  Bear  diligently  in  mind,  as  well  the  faith  transmitted  by 
the  Apostles,  as  that  also  especially  which  was  delivered  in 
writing  by  the  holy  fathers  in  the  council  of  Nicsea;  and 
setting  your  feet  firmly  on  that  faith,  remain  immovable." — 
Ep.  ii.  Orient.  Labbe,  n.  1,  col.  866. 

ST.  SIEICIUS,  POPE,  L.  C. — "  In  the  council  of  Nicaea,"  &c., 
as  given  under  "  Tradition"  from  Ep.  viii.  n.  13. 

CENTTJKY    V. 

ST.  AUGUSTINE,  L.  C. — "  Those  things  which  we  observe, 
things  not  written,  but  transmitted,  which  are  indeed  observed 
throughout  the  whole  world,  it  is  to  be  understood  that  they 
are  retained,  as  commanded  and  decreed,  either  by  the  Apostles 
themselves,  or  by  general  councils,  the  authority  of  which  is 
most  wholesome  in  the  Church."  ' — T.  ii.  Ep.  liv.  n.  1,  Janur 
ario*  col.  185.  For  context,  see  "  Tradition." 

"  With  how  much  greater  force  do  we  now  say :  What  the 
custom  of  the  Church  always  held,  what  this  dispute  could 
not  dissuade  from,  and  what  a  general  council  has  confirmed,2 
this  we  follow." — T.  ix.  I.  iv.  De  Baptis.  Contr.  Donat.  n.  9, 
col.  224.  For  context  see  "  Tradition" 

Speaking  on  the  same  subject  as  that  treated  of  in  the  pre 
ceding  extract,  viz.  the  question  of  rebaptizing  those  who  had 
been  baptized  by  heretics,  he  says  :  "  Nor  should  we  ourselves 
dare  to  assert  anything  of  the  kind,  if  we  were  not  supported 
by  the  most  concordant  authority  of  the  universal  Church  ;  to 
which  also  he  (St.  Cyprian)  would  without  doubt  have  yielded, 
if  at  that  time  the  truth  on  this  question,  already  made  clear 
and  declared,  had  been  established  by  a  general  council.3  For 

1  Datur  intelligi  vel  ab  ipsis  apostolis,  vel  plenariis  conciliis,  quorum 
est  in  ecclesia  saluberrima  auctoritas,  commendata  atque  statute  retineri. 

2  Quod  plenarium  concilium  confirmavit,  hoc  sequimur. 

3  Nisi  universas  ecclesiae  concordissima  auctoritate  firmati  ;  cui  et  ipse 
sine  dubio  cederet,  si  jam  illo  tempore  quaestionis  hujus  veritas  eliquata  et 
declarata  per  plenarium  concilium  solidaretur. 


456  COUNCILS. 

if  lie  praises  and  exalts  Peter  for  bearing  with  patience  and 
friendliness  the  being  corrected  by  one  and  that  a  later  col 
league,  with  how  much  greater  readiness  would  he,  with  the 
council  of  his  province,  have  yielded — the  truth  having  been 
made  manifest — to  the  authority  of  the  whole  world  ? " — Ibid. 
1.  ii.  n.  5  (al.  3),  col.  184. 

He  says  on  the  same  subject,  "  This  custom  1  believe  comes 
(or,  as  coming)  from  apostolical  tradition ;  as  there  are  many 
things  which  are  not  found  in  their  writings,  nor  in  the  coun 
cils  of  those  who  came  later,1  and  which  nevertheless,  because 
they  are  held  throughout  the  universal  Church,  are  believed 
to  have  been  transmitted  and  commended  by  none  but  they." 
—Ibid.  1.  ii.  n.  12,  col.  189-90.  For  context  see  "Apostolical 
Traditions." 

ST.  CYRIL  OF  ALEXANDRIA,  G.  C. — See  the  extract,  from  T. 
v.  P.  ii.  p.  22,  given  under  "  Tradition" 

"  But  that  we  throughout  follow  the  sentiments  of  the  holy 
fathers,  and  especially  of  our  blessed,  and  everywhere  celebrated 
father,  Athanasius,  refusing  to  vary  from  them  at  all,  even  in 
the  slightest  manner,  let  your  holiness  be  assured,  and  let  no 
one  else  have  any  doubt.  I  should  have  added  many  passages 
borrowed  from  them,  giving  credit  to  my  words  by  theirs, 
were  I  not  afraid  of  the  length  of  my  letter,  which  might 
thereby  become  tedious.  And  in  no  wise  do  we  suffer  to  be 
shaken  by  any  one,  the  faith  defined,  or  the  symbol  of  faith 
settled,  by  our  fathers,  who  assembled,  in  their  day,  at  Xicaea. 
Neither  do  we  allow  ourselves,  or  any  other  to  alter  a  word 
there  set  down,  or  even  to  omit  a  single  syllable,  mindful  of 
that  saying :  Remove  not  the  ancient  land-marks  which  thy 
fathers  have  set.  For  it  was  not  they  that  spoke,  but  the 
Spirit  Himself  of  God  and  the  Father."— T.  v.  P.  2,  Ep.  ad 
Joan.  Antioch.  Episc.  p.  108.  See  also  Ib.  in  S.  Symbolum, 
p.  175,  D.  E.  and  T.  vi.  Z.  1,  ad  Nestor,  p.  20,  D. 

"  That  Christ  presided  invisibly  at  the  holy  and  great  synod 

1  Sicut  multa  quae  non  inveniuntur  in  litteris  eorum,  neque  in  conciliis 
posteriorum. 


COUNCILS.  457 

(Nicsea),  how  can  it  be  doubted?"  '  —  T.  vi.  Ep.  in  8.  Sym- 
bolum,  p.  175. 

ST.  ISIDORE  OF  PELUSIUM,  G.  C.  —  [Having  mentioned  a  great 
variety  of  errors  on  the  three  persons  of  the  Trinity,  he  says  :] 
"  We  ought  not  to  follow  the  decisions  of  men  laboring  under 
such  disorders,  but  to  derive  our  demonstrations  from  the 
judgment  of  men  free  from  all  disorder,2  and  to  cleave  to  the 
holy  synod  which  assembled  at  Mcaea,  nothing  adding  (thereto), 
nothing  diminishing  ;  for  that  synod  being  divinely  inspired, 
taught  the  true  doctrine."5  —  Z.  iv.  Ep.  xcix.  p.  467. 

THEODORET,  G.  C.  —  "  These  things  have  been  transmitted  to 
us,  not  only  by  the  Apostles  and  prophets,  but  also  by  those 
who  have  interpreted  their  writings,  by  Ignatius,  &c.  .  .  .  and 
by  the  holy  fathers  who  assembled  at  Nicsea,  whose  confession 
of  faith  we  keep  as  a  paternal  inheritance,  and  we  call  those 
who  dare  transgress  against  the  above,  adulterate,  and  enemies 
of  the  truth."—!7,  iv.  Ep.  Ixxxix.  Elorentio,  p.  1160.  For 
context  see  "  Church  the  Expounder  of  Scripture"  where 
also  see  Ibid.  Ep.  xc.  Lupicino. 

THEODOTUS  OF  ANCYRA,  G.  C.  —  "  These  are  the  words  of  the 
fathers  (the  Nicsean  creed),  which  lay  down  for  us  the  faith 
regarding  the  only-begotten  ;  guiding  right,  as  a  rule,  every 
human  thought.  .  .  .  Every  one  who  thinks  differently  from 
this  exposition  (of  faith),  is  an  alien  from  Christianity,  &c.,"  as 
given  under  "Authority,"  from  Expos.  Symbol.  T.  ix.  Galland. 

CAPREOLUS  OF  CARTHAGE,  L.  C.  —  See  the  extract,  given 
under  "Authority,"  from  Ep.  ad  Condi.  Ephes.  T.  ix.  Galland. 

VINCENTIUS  OF  LERixs,  L.  C.  —  "  The  Church  of  Christ,  a 
sedulous  and  careful  keeper  of  the  doctrines  deposited  with 
her,  changes  nothing  in  them  ever,  diminishes  nothing,  adds 
nothing;  she  cuts  not  off  things  necessary,  she  puts  not  on 
things  superfluous  ;  what  is  her  own  she  loses  not,  what  is 
another's  she  usurps  not.  [See  continuation  under  i  Author- 

1  TlpoedpoS  rfv  dopdrco1-,  ri?$  dyiaS  .  .  .  Gvvodov  6  XpidToS 


2  'And  rrjs  TGOV  vyiavovr&v  xpidfooS  ka^fidvEiv  rd? 
yap 


458  COUNCILS. 

ity.']  In  fine,  what  else  has  she  ever  endeavored  by  the  de 
crees  of  councils,  but  that  what  before  was  simply  credit 
ed,  should  be  more  diligently  believed ;  that  what  before 
was  preached  more  sparingly  (slowly),  should  afterwards  be 
preached  more  instantly ;  that  what  before  was  more  securely 
reverenced,  the  same  afterwards  should  be  more  carefully 
cherished?  This,  I  say,  and  nothing  else,  has  the  Catholic 
Church,  provoked  by  the  novelties  of  heretics,  ever  done  by 
the  decrees  of  her  councils ;  nothing,  to  wit,  but  what  she 
previously  had  received  from  her  forefathers  by  tradition  alone, 
that  same  she  consigned  thenceforward  to  posterity  by  writing 
also  ;  by  comprising  a  great  sum  of  things  in  a  few  words,  and 
oftentimes,  for  a  more  luminous  understanding,  by  marking 
with  the  propriety  of  a  new  appellation,  an  old  article  (sense) 
of  faith."  ' — Adv.  Ilwres.  n.  xxiii. 

ST.  LEO  L,  POPE,  L.  C. — See  the  extract,  from  Ep.  xc.  given 
under  "  Authority f." 

ST.  GELASIUS  L,  POPE,  L.  C. — See  the  extract,  from  T.  x. 
Gotland,  p.  677,  given  under  "  Primacy  of  the  Successors  of 
St.  Peter." 


OECUMENICAL  COUNCILS. 

As  the  Christian  faith  spread,  and  churches  were  formed,  no 
sooner  was  that  faith  endangered  by  innovation,  the  order  of 
discipline  disturbed,  or  other  controversies  excited,  than  re 
course  was  had  to  synods,  or  councils.  In  these,  the  convened 
ministers  of  religion,  by  deliberation  and  a  united  effort,  were 
enabled  to  oppose  the  progress  of  error,  and  to  re-establish,  or 
to  maintain,  concord  and  the  order  of  discipline.  But  it  was 
not  before  the  fourth  century,  when  Constantine  had  embraced 

1  Hoc,  inquam,  semper,  neque  quicquara  praeterea,  haereticorum  novi- 
tatibus  excitata,  conciliorum  suorum  decretis  catholica  perfecit  ecclesia, 
nisi  ut,  quod  prius  a  majoribus  sola  traditione  susceperat,  hoc  deinde  pos- 
teris  etiam  per  scripturae  chirographum  consignaret :  magnam  rerura  sum- 
mam  paucis  litteris  comprehendendo :  et  plerumque  propter  intelligentise 
lucem,  non  novum  fidei  sensum  novae  appellationis  proprietate  signando. 


COUNCILS.  459 

the  Christian  belief,  and  the  Arian  controversy  had  convulsed 
the  Christian  world,  that  a  general  meeting  of  distant  prelates 
was  deemed  necessary,  or  could  have  been  accomplished, 
though  necessary.  At  all  times  provincial  synods  had  met ; 
an  intercourse  among  the  churches  was  maintained,  the  apos 
tolic  faith,  through  a  succession  of  pastors,  was  preserved  in 
violate  ;  and  error  was  successfully  opposed.  The  following 
is  a  brief  account  of  the  four  general  councils  held  during  the 
fourth  and  fifth  centuries. 

CENTURY    IV. 

COUNCIL  OF  NKLEA,  G.  C. — In  the  year  325,  the  first  general 
council  met  at  Nice,  or  Nicsea,  in  Bithynia.  It  was  composed 
of  three  hundred  and  eighteen  bishops. 

Arius  stated  his  opinions  before  the  council,  which  con 
demned  them  as  heretical,  and  drew  up  a  creed,  or  profession 
of  faith,  as  a  summary  especially  of  the  true  doctrine  on  the 
points  which  Arius  had  assailed. 

The  council  also  considered  the  case  of  Miletius  ;  deter 
mined  the  time  for  the  due  celebration  of  Easter  ;  and  passed 
several  canons  of  ecclesiastical  discipline. 

Into  the  creed  was  introduced  the  term  consubstantial;  thus, 
"  marking  with  the  propriety  of  a  new  appellation,  an  old  ar 
ticle  of  faith,"  as  St.  Vincent  of  Lerins  remarks.  Whereas, 
to  signify  that  nothing  new,  beside  the  word  itself,  was  intro 
duced,  or  intended,  St.  Athanasius,  who  was  present,  notices 
that  the  creed  is  thus  prefaced  :  "  Behold,  what  is  the  faith  of 
the  Church.".  He  adds  :  "  They  (the  fathers  at  Mcsea)  wrote 
indeed  respecting  Easter,  '  It  has  seemed  good,  as  follows ; ' 
for  it  did  then  seem  good  that  there  should  be  a  general  com 
pliance:  but  as  regards  the  faith  they  wrote  not,  'It  has 
seemed  good,'  but,  '  Thus  believes  the  Catholic  Church ; '  and 
at  once  confessed  how  they  believed,  thereby  to  show  that  their 
sentiment  was  not  novel,  but  apostolical,  and  that  what  they 
wrote  down  was  not  a  discovery  of  their  own,  but  the  same  as 
the  Apostles  had  taught," — De  Synod,  n.  5,  T.  i.  p.  575. 


460  COUNCILS. 

Many  of  the  preceding  extracts,  given  in  this  section,  speak 
in  direct  terms  of  the  inviolable  authority  of  the  council  of 
Nicsea.  Every  succeeding  general  council  ratified  the  decrees 
of  that  synod  ;  and  the  local  synods  that  allude  to  its  doctri 
nal,  or  even  disciplinarian,  decisions,  speak  of  them,  as  was  to 
be  expected,  in  terms  similar  to  those  which  we  have  seen  em 
ployed  by  the  fathers.  Thus  the  council  of  Ariminum,  held 
in  359,  says :  "It  is  unbeseeming,  and  against  all  right,  to 
change  anything  in  those  things  rightly  and  justly  decreed  and 
established  publicly  at  Nicaea  .  .  .  the  doctrine  and  prudence 
of  which  have  been  made  known,  and  proclaimed  in  the  ears 
and  understandings  of  all  men.  .  .  .  Suffer  us  to  abide  in  those 
decrees  and  institutes  of  our  forefathers,  who,  as  we  have  said, 
did  all  with  wisdom,  and  prudence,  and  the  Holy  Ghost."- 
Labbe,  T.  ii.  col.  795-9.  So  also  the  council  of  Alexandria, 
held  in  362.  See  the  synodal  epistle,  Labbe,  T.  ii.  col.  813, 
A.  D.  And  in  the  second  council  of  Alexandria,  held  in  363, 
Britain  is  named  amongst  the  other  countries  that  had  received 
the  decrees  of  Nica?a. — Lfibbe,  T.  ii.  col.  825,  II.  See  also 
Condi.  Ayuil.  (A.  D.  S$l).—Labbe,  T.  ii.  col.  990,  B. 

COUNCIL  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE,  G.  C. — In  381,  the  second 
general  council  met  at  Constantinople.  It  was  composed  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  bishops  of  the  eastern  church,  who  con 
firmed  the  Nicene  creed,  to  which  several  additions  were  made 
in  further  explanation  of  the  faith  of  that  creed;  in  opposi 
tion  to  the  novelties  of  Macedonius  who  denied  the  divinity  of 
the  Holy  Ghost ;  in  explanation  of  the  doctrine  of  the  incar 
nation  of  our  Lord,  and  in  manifestation  of  the  true  Church 
which  they  defined  as  being  "  One,  holy,  Catholic,  and  apos 
tolical."  This  enlarged  creed  still  commonly  bears  the  name 
of  the  Nicene  creed,  as  being  substantially  the  same,  as  the 
synodal  epistle  testifies  :  "  Having  then  met  together  at  Con 
stantinople,  in  accordance  with  the  letter  of  your  piety  (Theo- 
dosius),  we  renewed  in  the  first  place  our  unanimity  with  each 
other,  and  then  pronounced  certain  brief  decrees,  both  con 
firming  the  faith  of  the  Nicene  fathers,  and  anathematizing 


COUNCILS.  461 

the  heresies  which  have  sprung  up  against  it.  In  addition  to 
this,  we  have  also  established  certain  canons  for  the  right  order 
ing  of  the  churches  ;  all  which  things  we  have  subjoined  to  this 
our  letter."— _£/?.  Synod.  Theod.  Ldbbe,  T.  ii.  col.  946.  And 
again  in  the  conciliar  epistle  to  Damasus,  Ambrose,  and  the 
bishops  of  the  west :  "  We  have  suffered  persecution,  .  .  .  for 
the  sake  of  the  evangelic  faith  which  was  ratified  at  Nicsea, 
in  Bithynia,  by  the  three  hundred  and  eighteen  holy  and  godly 
fathers.  For  it  is  needful  that  this  faith  be  approved  of  both 
by  us,  and  by  you,  and  by  all  those  who  do  not  pervert  the 
word  of  the  true  faith  ;  seeing  that  it  is  the  most  ancient,  and 
accordant  with  our  baptism,  and  teaches  us  to  believe  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 
— Ib.  col.  964.  So  also  in  the  first  of  the  seven  canons  of  the 
council. 

CENTURY  V. 

COUNCIL  OF  EPHESUS,  G.  C. — This,  the  third  general  council, 
assembled  at  Ephesus,  in  the  year  431.  It  was  composed  of 
more  than  two  hundred  bishops,  amongst  whom  St.  Cyril  of 
Alexandria,  who  represented  Celestine,  bishop  of  Rome,  bore 
the  principal  part.  As  St.  Athanasius  against  Arius,  so  St. 
Cyril  was  the  most  active  in  opposition  to  Nestorius,  bishop  of 
Constantinople,  against  whose  errors  especially  this  council 
was  convened.  Nestorius  asserted  two  persons  in  Christ,  and 
affirmed  that  the  Blessed  Virgin  ought  not  to  be  called  Theo- 
tocos,  mother  of  God,  (lit.  bringer  forth  of  God),  but  Christo- 
tocos,  mother  of  Christ. 

In  condemning  the  errors  of  Nestorius,  the  synod  did  not 
promulgate  a  new  creed,  nor  make  even  any  additions  to  those 
creeds  already  in  existence,  but  contented  itself  with  ratifying 
that  of  Mcaea,1  which,  in  the  acts  of  the  council,  is  spoken  of 

1  In  consequence  of  a  deception  practised  on  some  of  the  faithful  by  the 
Nestorian  party,  who  palmed  a  creed  of  their  own  on  the  unsuspecting,  as 
the  creed  of  Xicaea,  a  canon  was  passed,  in  accordance  with  an  application 
made  by  the  presbyter  Charisius,  declaring  it  "to  be  unlawful  for  any  one 
to  bring  forward,  or  to  write,  or  to  compose  another  creed  (faith)  besides 
that  denned  by  the  holy  Fathers  who,  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  assembled  at 


462  COUNCILS. 

in  terms  of  the  highest  veneration,  by  the  various  fathers  as 
sembled  at  the  council.  Thus  St.  Cyril :  "  This  man,  as  soon 
as  he  was  ordained,  and  ought  to  have  aided  unto  good,  by  his 
exhortations,  both  the  people  who  lived  there  and  the  stran 
gers  .  .  .  made  it  his  endeavor  to  utter  certain  absurd  and  irra 
tional  things,  and  which  are  as  far  as  possible  from  that  apos 
tolic  and  evangelic  faith,  which  our  fathers  in  every  way  pre 
served,  and  transmitted  to  us  as  a  most  precious  pearl." — T.  ii. 
Condi  col.  342. 

"And  why  (says  John,  Bishop  of  Antioch,  to  his  friend  Nes- 
torius),  if  your  mind  entertains  the  same  opinion  as  the  fathers 
and  doctors  of  the  Church — for  this  we  have  heard  said  con 
cerning  you  by  many  persons  who  are  our  mutual  friends — 
why  does  it  grieve  you  to  make  known  a  pious  sentiment  by  a 
suitable  word?" — Ib.  col.  390.  See  also  the  various  declara 
tions  of  the  fathers,  when  the  letter  of  St.  Cyril,  explaining 
the  orthodox  faith,  was  read  :  that  Cyril's  letter  but  "  set  forth 
more  fully  what  the  Xicene  fathers  had  declared  more  briefly." 
— Lalle,  t.  ii.  col.  462-3,  et  seqq.  See  also  the  letter  of  Capreo- 
lus  of  Carthage,  given  under  "Authority"  I  append  the  ac 
count  given  of  this  council  by  St.  Yincentius  of  Lerins,  who 
wrote  but  three  years  after  its  decrees  were  published. 

YINCENTIUS  OF  LERINS,  L.  C. — "We  said  also  that,  in  eccle 
siastical  antiquity  itself,  two  things  were  earnestly  and  studi 
ously  to  be  observed — things  to  which  they  who  would  not  be 
heretics  ought  in  every  way  to  cling.  The  first  is,  if  there  be 
anything  of  old  decreed  by  all  the  priests  of  the  Catholic 
Church  by  authority  of  a  general  council ;  the  second  is,  that 
if  any  new  question  should  arise,  wherein  that  (decree)  be  not 
found,  recourse  is  to  be  had  to  the  sentiments  of  the  holy 
fathers,  (but)  of  those  only  who,  in  their  respective  times  and 
places,  persevering  in  the  unity  of  communion  and  faith,  were 

Nicaea."—  T.  iii.  Labb.  col.  690.  The  full  account  of  this  transaction,  and 
of  the  occasion  and  meaning  of  this  decree,  which  has  been  much  misunder 
stood,  or  misrepresented,  will  be  found  in  the  sixth  action  of  the  council, 
Labb.  t.  iii.  col.  671-90. 


COUNCILS.  463 

approved  (probable)  masters  ;  and  that  whatsoever  they  should 
be  found  to  have  held  in  one  sense  and  consent,  should  be, 
without  any  scruple,  judged  to  be  the  true  and  Catholic  doc 
trine  of  the  Church,  which,  lest  we  might  seem  to  advance 
rather  of  our  own  presumption  than  from  ecclesiastical  au 
thority,  we  adduced  the  example  of  the  holy  council,  which, 
nearly  three  years  since,  was  celebrated  at  Ephesus  in  Asia, 
under  the  consulship  of  the  most  illustrious  Bassus  and  An- 
tiochus.  In  which  council,  when  the  question  was  discussed 
about  authorizing  rules  of  faith,  lest  there  might  haply  some 
profane  novelty  creep  in  there,  as  happened  in  the  perfidy  of 
Ariminum,  this  seemed,  to  all  the  priests  who  had  assembled 
there,  nearly  two  hundred  in  number,  the  most  Catholic,  the 
most  faithful,  and  the  best  thing  to  be  done,  that  the  senti 
ments  of  the  holy  fathers  should  be  brought  forward,  of  whom 
it  was  certain  that  some  had  been  martyrs,  others  confessors, 
whilst  all  had  been,  and  had  remained,  true  Catholic  priests ; 
in  order,  to  wit,  that  out  of  their  consent  and  verdict,  the  re 
ligion  of  ancient  doctrine  might  be  duly  and  solemnly  con 
firmed,  and  the  blasphemy  of  profane  novelty  be  condemned.1 
Which  having  been  so  done,  that  impious  Nestorius  was  law 
fully  and  deservedly  judged  to  be  adverse  to  Catholic  an 
tiquity,  but  blessed  Cyril  to  have  agreed  with  holy  and  sacred 
antiquity.  And  to  the  end  that  nothing  might  be  wanting 
which  procureth  credit,  we  set  forth  also  the  names  and  num 
ber  of  those  fathers  (although  we  did  not  remember  the  order), 
according  to  whose  conspiring  and  concordant  sentiment,  both 
the  sayings  of  the  sacred  law  were  expounded  there,  and  the 
rule  of  divine  doctrine  was  established.  Neither  will  it  be 
superfluous,  for  strengthening  the  remembrance,  to  repeat 
them  here  also. 

"  These,  therefore,  are  the  men  whose  writings  were  cited  in 
that  council,  either  as  judges  or  as  witnesses.  [He  then  names, 

1  Ut  scilicet  rite  atque  solemniter  ex  eorum  consensu  atque  decreto  an- 
tiqui  dogmatis  religio  confirmaretur,  et  prophanae  novitatis  blasphemia 
condemnaretur. 


464  COUNCILS. 

of  the  Eastern  Church,  St.  Peter  of  Alexandria,  St.  Athanasius, 
St.  Theophilus,  St.  Cyril  of  Alexandria,  St.  Gregory  of  Na~ 
zianzum,  St.  Basil,  St.  Gregory  of  Nyssa,  and   continues :] 
But  that  not  Greece  alone,  or  the  east  only,  but  that  also  the 
western  and  Latin  world,  might  be  proved  to  have  been  always 
of  that  sentiment,  some   letters  of   St.  Felix  Martyr,  of   St. 
Julius,  bishops  of  Home,  which  they  wrote  to  certain  men, 
were   also   there  read.     And  that  not  only  the  head  of  the 
world,1  but  also  the  other  parts  (the  sides),  might  give  testi 
mony  to  that  judgment,  from  the  south  they  brought  forward 
the  most  blessed  Cyprian,  bishop  of   Carthage,  and   martyr ; 
from  the  north,  St.  Ambrose,  bishop  of  Milan.     These,  there 
fore,  are  all  who,  equal  to  that  sacred  number  of  the  Decalogue, 
were  produced  at  Ephesus  as  masters,  counsellors,  witnesses, 
and  judges:2  that  blessed  synod  holding  their  doctrine,  follow 
ing  their  councils,  believing   their   testimony,  obeying  their 
judgment,  without  being  wearied,  without  presumption,  with 
out  favor,  gave  sentence  concerning  the  rules  of  faith.3     And 
although  a  much  greater  number  of  fathers  might  have  been 
alleged,  yet  was  it  not  necessary ;  because  it  was  not  fit  that 
the  time  of  business  should  be  occupied  with  a  multitude 
of  witnesses,  and  no  one  doubted  that  those  ten  did   think 
little  other  than  all  the  rest  of  their  colleagues. 

"After  all  these  things,  we  also  added  the  sentence  of 
blessed  Cyril,  which  is  contained  in  the  ecclesiastical  acts  them 
selves  (of  that  council).  For  when  the  epistle  of  St.  Capreolus, 
Bishop  of  Carthage,  had  been  read,  who  aimed  at  and  entreated 
nothing  else,  but  that,  novelty  being  overthrown,  antiquity 
should  be  defended,  Bishop  Cyril  spoke  and  gave  his  defini 
tion  in  this  sort — which  it  does  not  seem  out  of  place  to  insert 
also  here— for  thus  he  says  at  the  end  of  the  acts  :  <  And  this 
epistle,'  he  said,  'of  the  venerable  and  very  religious  Capre 
olus,  Bishop  of  Carthage,  which  has  been  read,  shall  be  con- 


1  Et  ut  non  solum  caput  orbis,  verum  etiara  latera. 

2  Magistri,  consiliarii,  testes,  judicesque. 

3  De  fidei  regulis  pronunciavit. 


COUNCILS.  465 

signed  to  the  faithful  keeping  of  our  acts:  his  sentiment  is 
clear ;  for  he  desires  that  the  old  dogmas  of  the  faith  be  con 
firmed,  but  that  new  dogmas,  superfluously  invented,  and  im 
piously  spread  abroad,  be  reprobated  and  condemned.'  All 
the  bishops  said,  with  acclamation,  '  These  are  the  words  of 
all ;  this  we  all  say  ;  this  is  the  wish  of  all.'  What  then  were 
the  words  of  all  ?  what  the  wishes  of  all  ?  but  that  what  was 
of  old  delivered  might  be  retained,  what  was  lately  invented 
be  rejected.  After  that,  we  admired  and  highly  commended 
the  so  great  humility  and  holiness  of  that  council ;  that  so 
many  priests,  almost  the  greater  part  of  whom  were  metropoli 
tans,  of  such  erudition,  and  of  such  learning,  that  they  were 
almost  all  sufficient  to  have  disputed  concerning  doctrines, 
whose  very  assembling  might  therefore  seem  enough  to  have 
added  confidence  to  attempt  and  decree  something  of  them 
selves,  yet  did  they  innovate  in  nothing,  presumed  in  nothing, 
arrogated  nothing  to  themselves ;  but  in  all  ways  were  most 
careful  not  to  deliver  anything  to  posterity,  which  themselves 
had  not  received  from  their  fathers ; l  and  not  only  disposed 
well  of  the  business  then  present,  but  left  an  example  to  those 
who  should  come  after  them,  that  they,  too,  namely,  should 
reverence  the  doctrines  of  sacred  antiquity,  but  condemn  the 
inventions  of  profane  novelty.  We  also  inveighed  against  the 
wicked  presumption  of  Nestorius,  for  that  he  boasted  of  him 
self  as  the  first  and  the  only  one  to  understand  the  sacred 
Scripture,  and  that  all  those  had  been  in  ignorance,  who, 
before  him,  in  their  office  of  teachers,  had  handled  the 
divine  words ; a  that  is,  all  the  priests,  all  the  confessors  and 
martyrs,  of  whom  some  had  explained  God's  law,  whilst 
others  agreed  with  or  believed  them  so  explaining :  in  fine, 
he  asserted  that  the  whole  Church  even  now  doth  err,  and 
always  had  erred,  she  having,  as  seemed  to  him,  followed,  and 

1  Omnimodis  praecavenmt,   ne  aliquid  posteris  traderent,  quod  ipsi  a 
patribus  non  accepissent. 

2  Quod  sacram  scripturam  se  primum  et  solum  intelligere,  et  omnes  eos 
ignorasse  jactaret,  quicunque  ante  se  magisterii  munere  praediti,  divina 
eloquia  tractayissent. 


466  COUNCILS. 

following  ignorant  and  erroneous  doctors."  x — Adv.  Hceres.  n~ 
xxix.-xxxii. 

COUNCIL  OF  CHALCEDON,  G.  C. — The  fourth  general  council 
assembled  at  Chalcedon,  in  the  year  451.  It  was  composed  of 
more  than  five  hundred,  some  say  of  more  than  six  hundred, 
bishops.  It  was  convened  to  oppose  the  errors  of  Eutyches, 
who  was  archimandrite  of  a  monastery  at  Constantinople.  In 
avoiding  the  errors  of  Nestorius,  he  fell  into  an  opposite  ex 
treme,  and  taught  that  in  Christ  the  human  nature  was  so 
absorbed  by  the  divine,  that  in  Christ  there  was  really  but  one 
nature,  and  that  the  nature  of  God.  This  heresy  was  the 
parent  of  numerous  other  heresies  which,  for  a  long  period, 
disturbed  the  churches. 

This  council  promulgated  another  creed,  in  which  the  doc 
trines  of  the  three  previous  general  councils  were  confirmed, 
and  a  further  explanation  was  given  of  the  orthodox  doctrine 
of  the  Church  on  the  incarnation  of  our  Lord.  In  the  defini 
tion  of  faith,  given  in  the  fifth  action,  they  say  :  "  We  have  by 
our  common  decree  driven  away  the  doctrines  of  error,  and 
have  renewed  the  unerring  faith  of  the  fathers,  having  pro 
claimed  to  all  men  the  creed  of  the  three  hundred  and  eight 
een,  and  having  added  (written  down  in  addition),  as  of  the 
same  household,  those  fathers  who  received  that  same  form  of 
true  religion,  as  were  the  hundred  and  fifty  who  afterwards 
assembled  in  the  great  city  of  Constantinople,  who  themselves- 
also  confirmed  (sealed)  the  same  faith.  We  therefore  define, — 
we  also  preserving  the  order  and  all  the  forms  concerning  the 
faith  of  the  holy  synod  which  formerly  took  place  at  Ephesusr 
of  which  Celestine  of  Koine,  and  Cyril  of  Alexandria,  were 
the  leaders, — that  the  exposition  of  the  right  and  blame 
less  faith  by  the  three  hundred  and  eighteen  holy  and  blessed 
fathers  who  were  assembled  at  Nicaea  .  .  .  has  the  first  place 
(shines  first)  .  .  .  and  that  those  things  should  be  maintained 

1  Totam  postremo  etiam  nunc  errare  et  semper  errasse  asseveraret  eccle- 
siam,  quae,  ut  ipsi  videbatur,  ignaros,  erroneosque  doctores  et  secuta  esset 
et  sequeretur. 


COUNCILS.  467 

which  were  defined  by  the  hundred  and  fifty  holy  fathers  at 
Constantinople,  for  the  removal  of  the  heresies  which  had  then 
sprung  up,  and  for  the  confirmation  of  the  same  one  Catholic 
and  apostolic  faith." — T.  iv.  Labb.  col.  562-3.  And  earlier,  in 
the  second  action,  when  it  was  proposed  to  settle  the  question 
of  faith,  and  the  imperial  moderators  had  said :  "  We  wish 
you  to  know,  that  the  most  godly  and  religious  lord  of  the 
universe  (the  emperor),  and  we,  preserve  the  orthodox  faith 
transmitted  by  the  three  hundred  and  eighteen,  and  by  the 
hundred  and  fifty,  and  by  the  other  holy  and  illustrious 
fathers  ;  the  most  reverend  bishops  acclaimed :  '  No  one  makes 
(any)  other  exposition ;  we  neither  attempt,  nor  do  we  dare  to 
expound  (otherwise) :  for  the  fathers  have  taught :  and  the 
things  set  down  by  them  are  preserved  in  writing  ;  we  cannot 
speak  beyond  these  things.' "  —Ib.  col.  338.  And  when  the 
creed  of  Nicaea  had  been  read,  the  bishops  again  acclaimed : 
"  This  is  the  faith  of  the  orthodox ;  in  this  we  all  believe  ;  in 
this  were  we  baptized ;  in  this  do  we  baptize ;  the  blessed 
Cyril  has  taught  thus." — 11.  col.  341 ;  and  similar  acclamations 
follow  the  reading  of  the  creed  of  Constantinople,  and  the  let 
ters  of  St.  Cyril  and  of  Pope  Leo.— See  col.  341,  368,  where, 
after  Leo's  letter,  they  cry  out,  "  We  all  believe  in  this  man 
ner  ;  the  orthodox  so  believe  ;  anathema  to  him  who  believes 
not  so ;  Peter  has  spoken  these  things  through  Leo ;  the  Apos 
tles  so  taught."  After  various  transactions,  and  before  the 
council  separated,  they  addressed  an  allocution,  as  it  is  termed, 
to  the  emperor,  wrherein  they  praise  his  zeal  and  that  of  Leo  : 
they  show  that,  in  their  council,  they  had  trodden  in  the  steps 
of  their  predecessors;  refuting  new  errors,  as  they  arose,  by 
new  definitions,  without  innovating  in  faith  :  at  great  length 
they  explain  the  doctrine  of  the  incarnation ;  they  vindicate 
the  celebrated  epistle  of  the  Roman  bishop  from  the  charge  of 
novelty,  with  which  it  had  been  attacked,  and  attest  its  con 
formity  with  the  holy  Scriptures,  the  symbol  of  Nice,  and  the 
doctrine  of  the  fathers :  "  Were  all  men  satisfied,"  they  say, 
"  with  the  form  of  faith,  and  troubled  not  the  path  of  true 


468       EXTENT  OF  THE  INERRANCY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

religion  by  innovation,  it  would  be  the  duty  of  those  of  the 
Church  to  devise  nothing  in  addition  to  the  creed,  for  demon 
stration.  But  because  many  deviate  from  the  right  path  into 
the  ways  of  error,  devising  for  themselves  in  deceitfulness 
a  certain  new  pathway,  it  is  necessary  that  we  also  convert 
them  by  the  discoveries  of  the  truth,  and  oppose  a  refutation 
to  their  inventions,  not  as  producing  ever  something  new  for 
true  religion,  as  if  something  were  wanting  to  the  faith,  but 
as  devising  things  profitable  in  opposition  to  their  innova 
tions."—  Labi.  t.  ii.  col.  822. 

These  four  councils  were  celebrated  in  the  east,  where  the 
errors  which  they  combated,  had  arisen  ;  but  delegates  from 
the  Roman  see  assisted  at  them,  and  their  decisions,  when 
canonically  passed  and  presented,  were  accepted  by  the  western 
churches,  not  as  new  articles,  but  as  agreeing  with  what,  in 
the  sum  of  doctrine,  they  had  before  implicitly  believed,  but 
which,  till  error  called  for  refutation,  had  not  been  thus  ex 
plicitly  expounded. 


EXTENT  OF  THE  INERRANCY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


PROPOSITION     XI. 

It  is  no  article  of  the  Catholic  faith,  that  the  Church  can 
not  err,  either  in  matters  of  fact  not  relating  to  faith,  or  in 
matters  of  discipline,  things  alterable  by  the  circumstances  of 
time  and  place  ;  or  in  matters  of  speculation  or  civil  policy, 
depending  on  mere  human  judgment,  or  testimony.  These 
things  are  no  revelations  deposited  in  the  Church,  in  regard 
of  which  alone  she  has  the  promised  assistance  of  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

END   OF   VOL.  I. 


E 

Berington.  Joseph.                     flQT 

AUTHOR                                                                                                           CUV? 

Hw  Faith  of  Catholics. 

TITLE                                                                                                       * 

DATE   ••• 

&fa  fc    1  1     ^~l 

^PFfg^wgR^  Nf9§fi 

2I2J 

**J 

o                                ^^  -J.  lyQf.  — 

.  r-T         Q  C 

x...                              •••«  — 

Berington,  Joseph.                        flQT 
The  Faith  of  Catholics.         507 
.34 
v.l  , 

HgHBHiBIII